FORT LAUDERDALE -- Four Fort Lauderdale icons will be recognized for their lifelong accomplishments with induction into the City's Walk of Fame on Saturday, May 28, 2016 as part of the 7th Annual Great American Beach Party. Each of the 2016 honorees has distinguished themselves in their respective fields, while making positive contributions to the City of Fort Lauderdale. The 2016 Fort Lauderdale Walk of Fame inductees are:
George L. Burrows, Sr. was born in 1926 in the northwest section in the City of Fort Lauderdale, known as "Short 3rd Street." He attended Old Dillard Elementary and High School, served in the United States Marine Corps, and graduated from Bethune-Cookman College. Upon his return to Fort Lauderdale in 1948, George Burrows successfully passed the municipal licensing board examination becoming the first African-American licensed master electrician in the City of Fort Lauderdale. In that same year, he established Burrows Electric Company, a business that has served Fort Lauderdale for nearly 70 years. George Burrows was responsible for installing the football stadium lights at his alma mater, historic Dillard High School, wiring thousands of homes throughout Fort Lauderdale's historically African-American community that did not have electricity, and training generations of young African-American men seeking to become electricians during the 1950s and 60s. Throughout his life, George Burrows has championed economic improvement and social empowerment. After being denied access to the Chamber of Commerce, he and other black entrepreneurs founded the Fort Lauderdale Negro Chamber of Commerce in 1949, an organization that brought the first voter registration booths and voting polls into the black community. The Negro Chamber was also instrumental in challenging the City to hire its first black police officer and mail carrier. George Burrows was appointed to the State of Florida Electrical Advisory Board by former Florida Governor Reubin Askew, and also served on the City of Fort Lauderdale's Unsafe Structures Advisory Board. He is a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, and an active member of St. Christopher Episcopal Church. George Burrows is the recipient of the JM Family African-American Achiever's Award, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce Salute to Business Award and, in 2011, during the City's Centennial Celebration, was named Honored Founder of the City of Fort Lauderdale.
Fort Lauderdale has a rich and distinguished history of providing continuous ocean lifesaving services, dating back to 1926 when the City became the second lifeguard service established in Florida. Celebrating their 90th Anniversary in 2016, Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue originally began as a volunteer group organized by the local Red Cross chapter. Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue was the first service in Florida to employ female lifeguards and the second to employ African-American lifeguards. Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue is certified by the United States Lifesaving Association (USLA), nationally recognized for excellence, and committed to providing a safe and enjoyable experience for millions of visitors to world famous Fort Lauderdale Beach. Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue supervises three miles of continuous public beach from the Fort Lauderdale Beach Park up to and including the beach in front of Hugh Taylor Birch State Park. In the guarded areas of the beach, there are 20 year-round, permanently staffed lifeguard towers spaced between 200 and 400 yards apart. There are also as many as 10 auxiliary stands that are used during the peak seasons, special events and holidays. Since 1985, Fort Lauderdale Ocean Rescue has offered a Junior Lifeguard Program to train the next generation of beach patrol professionals and continue a tradition of excellence.
Nicki E. Grossman, President of the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau since 1995, heads up Broward County's convention and tourism marketing efforts. Broward County's hospitality industry employs more than 168,000, and generated $14.1 billion in revenues by 15.3 million visitors in 2015. Nicki Grossman was elected to the Hollywood, Florida Commission in 1978 and elected to the Broward County Commission in 1982. She serves on the Board of Directors for the South Florida Super Bowl Host Committee, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's Travel and Tourism Advisory Council, American Coastal Coalition Board of Directors, and the Florida Commission on Tourism (where she was elected 2007-2008 Chair for VISIT FLORIDA). In 2007, Nicki Grossman was inducted into the VISIT FLORIDA Tourism Hall of Fame. She has been named one of the Top 25 Most Influential People in the Meetings Industry by Meeting News; one of the 100 Most Powerful Women in Tourism by Travel Agent; and one of the Top 25 Marketing Minds by the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI). In 2014, Nicki Grossman was honored as South Florida Business Leader of the Year. She recently received the JCC Maccabi Midot Award, APEX Distinguished Service Award, and the Broward County Film Society Visionary Award. Nicki Grossman was born and raised in Miami Beach. She is married to Circuit Court Judge Mel Grossman and is the mother of three daughters and "Nana" to eight grandchildren.
Reverend Monsignor Vincent T. Kelly
Reverend Monsignor Vincent T. Kelly was born in Kilrush, County Clare, Ireland. He was educated at St. Patrick's College in Thurles County, Tipperary, Ireland and was ordained into the priesthood on June 10, 1956. Monsignor Kelly began his service to the Fort Lauderdale community in 1969 at St. Pius X Church and Cardinal Gibbons High School. In 1970, he was assigned as Supervising Principal at St. Thomas Aquinas High School. Under his leadership, St. Thomas Aquinas developed into one of the nation's leading high schools for academic and athletic excellence and will celebrate its 80th Anniversary in 2016 with more than 20,000 alumni. Today, Monsignor Kelly serves as Pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and Supervising Principal of both St. Thomas Aquinas and Cardinal Gibbons High Schools. For more than four decades, he has been an integral part of Fort Lauderdale providing leadership, education, guidance, and spiritual direction to our community. He established what today is known as the Catholic Community Foundation to ensure the future of Catholic schools, particularly those located in underserved areas of the community. He was instrumental in the formation of the Florida Catholic Conference, the Florida Academic Association of Non-Public Schools, and was part of the vision for the National Congress on Catholic Schools for the 21st Century. In 2010, he spearheaded a massive relief effort for the victims of the earthquake in Haiti, working with thousands of supporters throughout Fort Lauderdale to regularly send physicians and supplies to the island to assist in the recovery effort. In June 2016, Monsignor Kelly will celebrate his 60th Anniversary as a priest with nearly 50 years of exemplary service to the Fort Lauderdale community.
The City of Fort Lauderdale established the Walk of Fame in 2010 at the inaugural Great American Beach Party to pay tribute to the legendary Connie Francis on the 50th Anniversary of "Where the Boys Are," the 1960 film which made Fort Lauderdale an overnight sensation and a "must see" destination for visitors.
Walk of Fame Honorees are recognized for outstanding work in their respective fields and for making long-term positive contributions to the City of Fort Lauderdale. As part of the awards program, each honoree receives a commemorative marble paver that is placed in the Walk of Fame to memorialize their outstanding accomplishments. The Fort Lauderdale Walk of Fame is located on the beach along the east side of A1A at Las Olas Boulevard.
The 2016 Walk of Fame Honorees will be formally inducted on Saturday, May 28 at 6:00 p.m. on the main stage at the Great American Beach Party at A1A and Las Olas Boulevard. In addition to the Walk of Fame Induction Ceremony, the Great American Beach Party will include a day and evening full of exciting activities and entertainment. The free event takes place from 10:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. along A1A from Las Olas Boulevard north to Castillo Street and features live bands on two stages, a classic car show, sand sculpting contest, kids zone, parachute demonstration by the SOCOM Para-Commandoes, art show, vendors, and activities for the entire family.
The City of Fort Lauderdale's Great American Beach Party is co-sponsored by Broward County's Cultural Division, Budweiser, the City of Fort Lauderdale's Beach Community Redevelopment Agency, the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau, and 102.7 The Beach.
