When I moved to Miami in the 1970s, the banquet was an annual event called Ribs ‘n’ Roast. It had been going for several years as a fundraiser for scholarships. My impression is that it started early in the Miami Chapter’s life, which began in 1945.

Ribs ‘n’ Roast is fondly recalled by my older colleagues because it was a ribald and rollicking dinner theater production. The show would run two nights, with women admitted only for the one with the jokes cleaned up. Remember that in those days, the Society was still Sigma Delta Chi (SDX) and only men were members. In its heyday the venue was a nightclub called Miami Springs Villas.

Many of the sparkplugs for Ribs lost their enthusiasm after SDX went coed and changed its name, somewhere around 1980. Instead we would hold two banquets a year — one for presenting scholarships and one for recognizing contest winners. Soon the two banquets were merged; I don’t recall whether that happened before or after the failing Suncoast Chapter petitioned Miami to be brought into our fold.