50th Anniversary – Trinidad & Tobago Independence
By: Shama Harrysingh
SOUTH FLORIDA – Trinidadian, Dennis Hardial has made his mark in Florida. So impressed were the people of Lauderhill City, Florida, with the contribution made by Hardial to their city that a day was dedicated to him.
Mayor Richard Kaplan of Lauderhill City, Florida, declared June 9, 2008, as “Dennis Hardial Day” in honour of the man who had successfully integrated Caribbean culture into that society. He was even successful in marketing cricket and Carnival to Lauderhill City. In a reception held in Hardial’s honour, a proclamation document was presented to him by the City, outlining his achievements.
A proclamation issued by Lauderhill City stated that Hardial, was a “leader in bringing diversity and culture to the City of Lauderhill,” a feat he accomplished while sitting as the preHardial, who in the proclamation was also described as the “ forerunner in bringing cricket to the City through the introduction of the USA Cricket Association and the West Indies Cricket Board…” Further, his accomplishments on the City’s honour list recognised his successful coordination of “Unite-A-Fest”, and founder of Broward’s Caribbean Carnival, organised by the Trinidad and Tobago Day Celebration body .
Hardial was a livewire in the society, “fighting for the Broward Regional Park and the Cultural Centre as well as holding several food and toy drives and donating to the less fortunate in Lauderhill City.”
Dennis Hardial was born in Brasso, Trinidad.
In 1974 after graduating from Open Bible School, he worked until 1979 then migrated to Birmingham, England to pursue a degree in accounting. He returned to Trinidad where he worked as an accountant for several years.
In 1988 Dennis migrated to South Florida where he held several jobs with Fortune 500 companies in the accounting field.
In 1992 Dennis founded the South Florida Windball Cricket Association.
In that year he also organized a most successful family day with the focus being on children. He has since organized several of these events which consisted of various sports and activities to accommodate children of all ages and their parents.
From 1993 to 2009 Dennis has spearheaded yet another concentrated effort to assist underprivileged children here in the US and the Caribbean. Dennis pours his heart out to the local businessmen in an effort to collect toys for these children. In 1993 Dennis was made an honorary member of the Enterprise Kiwani’s Club in Trinidad.
Dennis has always had a vision of uniting Caribbean Nationals and showcasing their culture here in America.
In 1994 Dennis became a founder member and the first president of South Florida Caribbean Cultural Coalition. He was able to achieve his lifelong dream by being very instrumental in the success of UNIFEST in 1995 and 1996.
These festivals which hosted approximately five to ten thousand attendees were the very first of this type, displaying food, music, entertainment and crafts from all countries in the Caribbean Basin.
Dennis was a member to the Coral Springs Multicultural Advisory Board and has actively participated in WORLDFEST and the MARTIN LUTHER KING Celebration.
Dennis is also a member of the Arts & Culture Advisory Board (Historical Museum of South Florida)
In 1998, Dennis founded a non-profit organization, Caribbean National Cultural Association, to promote unity and cultural awareness in South Florida.
In 1999 Dennis, with CNCA headed a medical drive and acquired an ambulance and medical supplies that were sent to his native land – Trinidad.
From 1999 through 2008 the CNCA, headed by Dennis has partnered with The City of Lauderhill and Lauderhill Mall to present Unite-A-Fest in Broward County, this festival is one of the most effective cultural showcases of the Caribbean people. During these years these incident free festivals have grown to accommodate over 40,000 people from various ethnic origins as well as Americans.
Dennis continuously strives to add to his portfolio and once again from 1999 to 2008 has presented yet another successful event Trinidad and Tobago Multicultural Day in commemoration of Trinidad and Tobago Independence. This event draws a crowd of over 20 to 25 thousand people.
In 2001 Dennis was the chairperson of A.F.R.E.E America, which raised over $8,000 to help the victims of the September 11th disaster.
In 2002 Dennis took a delegation to Trinidad, which includes the Mayor and Vice- Mayor of Lauderhill and other City and County officials to learn and understand how cricket is played and run by officials. From that trip came the new cricket stadium. The Twining of Chaguanas and Lauderhill was achieved.
This was achieved and completed in December 2010.
In 2002 Dennis was very instrumental in working with the City of Lauderhill and Broward County Commissioners to have the new Cultural Center/Cricket Stadium built.
In 2002 Dennis presented the very first Broward Carnival, this incident free event brought 25 to 35 thousand guests many of them were from out of state and out of country. Again in 2003 Broward Carnival was held with much more attendance as people were very impressed with the first one.
Dennis started Lauderhill Steel Ensemble and donated steel pans to the City of Lauderhill in order to have kids learn to play and keep the culture going strong.
In 2008 Dennis was one of the founding members of Divali Nagar Inc.
Dennis has received several proclamations and awards and can be commended highly for the Cultural Diversity Award that was awarded to the City of Lauderhill in 2005. Recently, he was presented an award for his dedicated service to the community by ‘Friends of the Hibiscus’ (Caribbean cache Inc.) at their Indian Arrival Day Celebration held at the Hibiscus Restaurant.
For all his hard work, the City of Lauderhill named June 9 2008 “Dennis Hardial Day”
Throughout the years Dennis has promoted the diverse culture of Trinidad & Tobago and has put the country number one in South Florida
The list of achievements can go on and on, but in summary Dennis Hardial is a dedicated, Trinidadian who has proved beyond a doubt that his organizational skills, extreme competency and honesty has earned the respect of the patrons and vendors alike. He is a take charge guy who gives unselfishly of himself in any capacity that he has been placed.
Congratulations Dennis!
