JFK Documentary: A True Labor Of Love

To Lynn Marvin Dingfelder, it was not unlike giving birth. The necessary labor, the gift-of-life reward. Only the gestation period was about two years.

The media-savvy, erstwhile TV reporter and wife of former City Councilman John Dingfelder recently finished editing her “labor of love” project: “JFK in Tampa: The 50th Anniversary.” It debuts this Thursday, Nov. 7, at Tampa Theatre. Soon it will be seen across the state on all PBS affiliates. Copies are destined for the city of Tampa, USF, the Tampa Bay History Center and the Kennedy Library.

“For the past two years I’ve lived in 1963,” says Marvin Dingfelder. “I was holed up months where I’d go to bed at 3:30 a.m. and be up at 7. Looking at photos, viewing film footage and editing. And now it’s ready. I’m really proud of this work.”

What Marvin Dingfelder did was to research, fact-check, interview, write, edit and produce an hour-long documentary–in partnership with WUSF Public Media–that is meant to celebrate John F. Kennedy’s Nov. 18, 1963 visit to Tampa–the first in history by a sitting president.

The historic occasion, a five-hour, 28-mile-motorcade visit that included stops at Al Lopez Field, Fort Homer Hesterly Armory and The International Inn, was Tampa’s de facto coming out party on the national political stage. Tampa and Florida now mattered electorally. Richard Nixon had barely carried the Sunshine State in 1960. The 35th president of the United States was in charm-offensive, campaign-outreach mode–literally–and the crowds were enthusiastically responsive.

The documentary is also intended, in effect, to provide an emotional counterweight to all the sadness and heartbreak inherent in being part of the same infamous time frame as Dallas. JFK was assassinated just four days after his Tampa visit.

“I wanted to do this tastefully and not exploitatively,” explains Marvin Dingfelder. “It was a way to pay homage to someone I’d admired and loved for years, but it was also a way to do something for the city I love and live in.”

But, yes, security is covered–ominously so–in “JFK in Tampa.” In fact, it’s revealed that the Secret Service, in reconnoitering Kennedy’s parade route a week in advance, had made sure that all downtown office buildings taller than two stories had a police/military presence on each floor. Comments from local officials as well as Secret Service agents are reminders that “the threat level was very high” and that “it” very well “could have happened here.”

In fact, there were rumors of rogue Cubans and Klan concerns. Tampa’s mob roots were a given. There had been death-threat letters and at least two suspects warranted hands-on follow-ups.

“JFK in Tampa” is also a vehicle for Marvin Dingfelder to go beyond her (WTVT Channel 13) newsroom experience back in the (pre-Fox) day to do something significantly substantial. “PBS allows for more depth,” she explains. “You don’t need a 4-6 second sound bite. You can do longer takes. I love the substance, the production values. I love something that isn’t, as we used to say, ‘quick and dirty.’ I hope it’s a think piece.”

While she was hardly a novice when it came to Kennedy history and even JFK’s Tampa visit, Marvin Dingfelder admits she was surprised at how truly accessible the president was. On the parade route, in speech venues. “Today you have to be a big spender, donor, know somebody,” she notes. “But Kennedy’s visit to Tampa was a wonderful, accessible visit. That made it so special.”

She also concedes the emotional roller coaster that was inevitably part of her work environment.

“As much of a joy as it was, it was also incredibly difficult,” she says. “I wanted to show honor and tell the truth–but you always know the ending that’s just days away. I didn’t want it to feel like just another sad story of Nov. 22. So the onus was on me to produce something that people would want to watch, not dread to watch. The challenge was to make a piece that was happy. I wanted to focus on the happy anniversary.”

To that end, Marvin Dingfelder had plenty of help from those sharing vintage photos and home movies. An African American-Anglo- Tampeño eye-witness mix gives “JFK in Tampa” a vintage Tampa feel.

*”He had that charisma…and you were the only one in the crowd.”–Michelle Patty.

*”I swear when he passed by, our eyes locked. … I loved him.”–Helen Gordon Davis.

*”The very first president I ever saw.”–Dick Greco.

*”He was a Catholic, and the nuns let us off school to see him. For teens, he was better looking than Troy Donahue or Richard Chamberlain. He was a rock star.”–Kathy Betancourt.

For Marvin Dingfelder, there was one other priority. Posterity deserved her best shot.

“I’ve accumulated as much as possible into one neat time capsule,” she underscores. “That’s important because we’re losing too many of these stories that should be cherished. I wanted to weave a story line to last–to help preserve our history.”

Indeed, it’s a keeper.

General seating tickets are $12 for Thursday’s (7:30) documentary debut, $13.50 online at Tampatheatre.org. A Q&A follows the presentation. VIP tickets, which include a (5:30) cocktail hour, appetizers, a JFK book (“Kennedy Detail”) and an opportunity to mingle with JFK Secret Service agents, are $125 at the box office and $130 online.

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