To a non-Floridian, the Orange Bowl brings to mind an annual winter college football struggle. To Miami Cadillac- Buick-GMC dealer Ed Williamson, the Orange Bowl means a lot more.
Williamson, who turns 66 on April 27, has been a member of the Orange Bowl Committee for close to 30 years, serving as its chairman in 1994-95.
The game itself has been a New Year’s Day tradition since 1935. It was played at Moore Park (then Miami Field) in downtown Miami for a couple of years.
Fans sat on wooden bleachers to cheer their favorites. Then the game moved to Miami’s Orange Bowl stadium, leaving Miami Field behind.
“Over the years the park had fallen on hard times,” Williamson says. “The Orange Bowl Committee decided to change that, raising enough money in 2009 to begin renovating Moore.”
With the addition of city money, a $5.65-million youth sports/high school football stadium at Moore Park was completed in 2010.
“Not all high schools have athletic fields,” Williamson says. “This has given them and others in youth sports and various summer programs a place to play.”
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