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The Landings & Bay Colony

Mayor’s Message

John P, “Jack” Seiler

Mayor, City of Fort Lauderdale

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ongratulations to the 2016 Fort Lauderdale Walk of Fame Inductees:
Trailblazer George Burrows, Sr., founder and owner of Burrows Electric
Company; Greater Fort Lauderdale tourism czar Nicki Grossman; Monsignor

Vincent T. Kelly, Pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church and Supervising
Principal of St. Thomas Aquinas and Cardinal Gibbons high schools; and Fort
Lauderdale Ocean Rescue, celebrating 90 years of providing continuous ocean
lifesaving services to millions of locals and visitors. The outstanding accomplishments
and contributions of this year’s class of honorees will be celebrated at an Induction
Ceremony on Saturday, May 28 at 6:00 pm at A1A and Las Olas Boulevard during
the City’s 7th Annual Great American Beach Party. 

George L. Burrows, Sr.

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 Ocean Rescue

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

Fort Lauderdale Icons to be Inducted into 
Walk of Fame on May 28

Ceremony to Highlight Great American Beach Party