In 1915 parts of Palm Beach County and Miami-Dade County -- then Dade County -- joined to create Broward County.
The county’s year-long centennial celebration, Broward 100: Celebrating the Art of Community, will play host to art and performance events with the hopes of bringing in more visitors.
Celebration details of Broward 100, and its official logo, were released at the Miramar Multi-Service Complex on Wednesday. Presenters included Broward County Mayor Barbara Sharief and Miramar Mayor Lori C. Moseley.
The four main pillars behind the centennial include a yearlong calendar of sanctioned events, public artworks throughout the county’s nine commission districts, black-and-white photograph installations of the county’s residents and a grand finale celebration set to take place in October 2015.
The launch event featured the first photo installation of the centennial. Inside Out Broward is part of a global art project seeking to give everyone a chance to share their portrait and deliver a collective message about their community.
Black and white portraits approximately two by four feet were wheat-pasted on the exterior walls, columns and entrance of the center.
One of the portraits pasted onto the grounds was of Miramar Senior Center volunteer Mildred Weller.
Weller, who’s lived in Broward since 1955, spends five days a week at the center. She and her late husband witnessed the county’s expansion.
“Everything stopped at University drive," she recalls. "It didn’t go any further than that, but now look how far they are out.”
Siblings Tom and Susan Chiappetta are also members of the senior center. They moved from New York to Broward 42 years ago and have relished in their surroundings since.
" I love it. I like it here," says Susan. "I just like the community, the people."