Thank you Ken Behring for creating Tamarac

Having met Ken Behring in December was a great honor. We found him to be very sincere and approachable. After doing research about our city for 3 plus years now he seemed to be someone that one would only get to know through newspaper clippings and stories. His presence at the City Hal Reception in his honor was a great success, many residents turned out to see the founder of our City. Behring was in town to help the City kick off the 50th Anniversary, as the city will celebrate the occasion with events throughout the year. July 19, 1963 Tom Ford (Secretary of State of Florida) signed the incorporation papers making Tamarac a City. This was the first time a city was incorporated for raw land, prior only well developed cities were incorporated.
Connecting Ken Behring in person, to the legend he was, makes you understand the driven, caring person he is. The fact that he started with one house and land that was only inhabited by cattle, swampy areas, snakes and orange groves and turned it into a city is difficult to comprehend.  Now, 50 years later we are a full service city of  60,000 plus residents. Thanks to Behring's vision and determination we have a great City.
This year promises to be very special as the city has worked very hard to compile events to commemorate this occasion. There will be a ground breaking ceremony for the new Mainlands Park, a great “Rock of Ages” concert, a classic car parade with Coral Springs and Parkland (who are celebrating their own 50th Anniversary), America’s largest Birthday Celebration on July 4th, and the 50th Anniversary Time Capsule Dedication on July 19th, and the events will continue throughout the year…
One additional item of note the Tamarac Historical Society has compiled a historical picture book. The book being published by the Arcadia Publishing Company, is part of the Images of America Series. The book begins with Ken Behring and how the City came about through to the vibrant City Tamarac is today.
We are looking forward to all these events so please join us.
Barbara Tarnove, President of the Tamarac Historical Society

Tamarac's Pioneers!

By: Barbara Tarnove, President, Tamarac Historical Society updated 9-12-2014

Each year since 1973, the Broward County Historical Commission has sponsored an annual to honor the communities early settlers; Broward County Pioneer Day. This event recognizes individuals or groups who have made significant contributions to preservation and education, celebrating the county’s rich history while remembering the experiences that give each Broward City its unique character. The legacy of the county’s early pioneers can serve as a model for successive generations in inspiring them to preserve those essential elements that distinguish this place we call “home”.

The Historical commission also presents awards for those individuals and organizations that exemplify meticulous historical research or preservation advocacy. The Historical Commission actively promotes these ideals in its effort to educate the public about Broward County’s significant local heritage.

The City of Tamarac began naming a Tamarac Pioneer in 1998. For the past two years, the Tamarac Historical Society has been proud to play a role in the selection of the City’s pioneers. The Tamarac Historical Society’s goal is to enlighten the community about our heritage and pass on an enduring legacy for future generations by researching, collecting, preserving and exhibiting the City’s history.

We’re pleased to present each of Tamarac’s pioneers, as celebrated by our City.

Tamarac’s Pioneers are:

1998 Walter W. Falck:
Five years after moving to Florida, Mr. Falck was a member of the Tamarac City Council in 1975 and was elected Mayor of Tamarac on March 12, 1976. Mayor Falck was named Broward County Senior Citizen of the Year in 1987 and inducted into the Senior Hall of Fame in 1988.

2000 Helen Sobel

Recognizing the need to help senior citizens who could not drive to doctor’s appointments or the market, she started a volunteer group of about fifty drivers with their own cars, who provided these services without reimbursement. Eventually this developed into the Tamarac Social Services.

2001 John Elbert McKaye

Mr. McKaye became involved in civic affairs, he served two terms as president of the home owners’ association for the Boulevards. John McKaye, an associate of Walter Falck an early Tamarac Mayor, City Commissioner and later a Broward County Commissioner, was appointed in 1995 to fill a seat on the Tamarac City Commission. He ran for office and served a full term from 1996 to 1999.

2002 Herbert Wade Hayes, Jr.

Upon retiring in 1975, he came to Tamarac and settled in the Westwood Community, serving his community for more than 25 years, as President of the Tamarac Presidents Council as well as a trustee. Mr. Hayes also served as the City of Tamarac’s government liaison to the Tamarac Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors.

2003 Tina Celantano

The first editor of the Mainlands 7 clubhouse newspaper, “Seven”. She regularly authored a column in the Tamarac Topics, the monthly newspaper published by Behring Properties. Tina took up the cause and fought to get a pay phone installed at the Mainlands’ clubhouse. She lobbied the commission strenuously to have a city bus service creating a future bus routes that stop at the major condos.

2006 Marion Fay

Marion Fay was a founding member of the Mainlands 1 & 2 Women’s Club, attended Faith United Church of Christ, a member of the Arts & Crafts Club at the Mainlands and communicated daily with several ladies who lived alone. In 2006 when named as the city’s pioneer Marion Fay had lived in Tamarac for 42 years. At the then age of 107 she was the longest living resident of Tamarac.

2007 Leo Kaplan

Mr. Kaplan has spent his life working as an artist. He worked at a large printing firm as their Art Director. He specializes in Assemblage       Art, or “art in a box”. Acting as an unofficial historian, Kaplan used to collect newspaper stories for posterity and turned them over to City Hall.

2009 Hubert Klombers

Mr. Klombers took up the cause of starting a SHINE (Serving Health Insurance Needs of Elders) program in Broward County. He became a Charter Member of SHINE in the county and worked tirelessly as a coordinator. The program helps keep seniors informed and gets them the help they need. Mr. Klombers served as a legislative aide for two Tamarac Commissioners.

2010 Lucille Wind

The Winds’ had fallen in love and signed a contract. Their home cost $8,990 and with the added features of air conditioning, a rear patio and an expanded garage brought their total to $10,030. They left a $200.00 deposit on a new way of life and maintenance free living. In 2010 Lucille Wind was Tamarac’s only living original resident.

2011 Larry Wark

Chief Elis Devoe was responsible for forming the City’s first Police Department of which Larry Wark was hired as the first police patrolman; with badge #1! Back in my day with the Tamarac Police Department, most of the City was under construction. The majority of our police functions consisting of patrolling the City and keeping watch on the shadows of the many partially built homes. We occasionally wrote up traffic violations and on occasion deterred theft of construction materials.

2012 Dorothy Willis
Dorothy Willis began her career at the age of 17 by receiving a scholarship to the Metropolitan Opera. As a solo performer she added acting to her repertoire and moved to Broadway. After her career on Broadway and raising her children she and her husband moved to Tamarac in 1979. Dorothy Willis teamed up with Ann White and formed the Ann White Theatre, proving alternative theatre to our local residents.  the Ann White Theatre evolved finally into the Tamarac Theatre of the Performing Arts. For over 32 years the theatre produced countless shows such as A Chorus Line, An Evening with Gershwin and Friends, Bye Bye Birdie, Gypsy and The Produces.

2013 Kenneth Behring
Kenneth Behring incorporated the City of Tamarac in 1963, the first time a city was incorporated as raw land. Prior to this only developed cities were give this distinction by the State of Florida. Behrings dream of having affordable housing with all the maintenance included with recreation facilities centered around a clubhouse and a large pool, caught on as a great retirement option. As his communities were announced they quickly sold out causing him to continue to acquire more land to build. He did so by continuing to go west, over the Sunshine State Parkway. He didso until 1972 when he lest to build another city in California.

2013 Edward Levy
For over 30 years Ed Levy has unselfishly helped veterans and their spouses navigate through government forms to obtain their benefits and their rights and deal with the Veterans Administration.
He keeps himself educated in the laws and changes in policy. For the past 7 years, he has been the Veterans Advisor at the Tamarac Community Center 9 months out of very years every Friday from 8:00 AM to 11:00 AM.

2014 Paul Anthony Kelly
Paul Kelly joined the Tamarac Fire Rescue team in 1981 after serving 4 years with the Cooper City Fire Department as one of its first paid fire fighters. Paul has been teaching school students about fire prevention through a movie he created using Sparky the Fire Dog. He even built a bedroom so the children would learn how to escape a burning room. Paul helped design and build a sign and mapping system for fire hydrants all on barrier walls now being used in the state of Florida. He retired from the Tamarac Fire Rescue department in 2011 due to Parkinson's disease but still volunteers to mentor and train the Tamarac Fire Rescue Cadets.

Each pioneer is unique for different reasons. Please be sure to visit the display at City Hall for more detailed information about each of Tamarac's pioneers.

Our Name: Solved!

(Originally published in the January/February/March 2012 issue of the Tam-A-Gram.)
By: Chad Quinn and Barbara Tarnove

The origins of the City of Tamarac’s name have long been up for debate. Various stories, rumors and theories have been passed from neighbor-to-neighbor and written about in various newspaper articles for years. The most common story to be told is the one in which Ken Behring, Tamarac’s founder and original developer of most of the City’s initial neighborhoods, reversed the name of a successful car wash business he had in Wisconsin prior to moving to South Florida – Car-A-Mat.

Other stories have included our City was named after the Tamarack tree, or an Indian Chief, or even by Mr. Behring taking the first initial of all his top executives at the time to form the word (this new theory was only recently uncovered by the Tamarac Historical Society in an old newspaper article).

In fact, when the Historical Society is out and about in the community, manning their information tables at various City events, or their bake sale fund-raiser table at the City’s Community Garage Sales, people often stop by to say, “I know how the City got its name… do you?” As the person recalls the story, most often it is the one about “Car-A-Mat.”

The truth is, that isn’t how the City got its name.

The City isn’t named after a tree, an Indian chief, or Mr. Behring’s executives.

Right from the beginning, when the Historical Society was formed in mid-2009, the group knew that solving the origins of Tamarac’s name would be a priority. Unfortunately all of their research resulted in nothing definitive, other than the fact that there were definitely several different ideas that have all stood the test of time and been passed down through the years.

Barbara Tarnove, the president of the Historical Society, decided to go right to the source. She reached out to Ken Behring through his secretary, Annette, and we are pleased to share with you the definitive answer on this subject:

“I spoke with Mr. Behring and asked him about the name. He laughed and said there are so many stories out there and they are [all] much better than the true story. He then said that the name for Tamarac came from a very boring place, so here is the true story. When Mr. Behring bought the first 13 acres there was a country clubhouse next door called Tamarac [Country Club] (most recently, before it was closed, it was the Oak Tree Country Club), and that is where the name came from.”

So… there we have it, the definitive answer to the origins of the City’s name directly from Tamarac’s founder, Ken Behring. Pass it on.

WE NEED YOU. Help us to continue to discover our City’s history. Do you have time to donate, a story to tell, or mementos to donate? If so, contact the Tamarac Historical Society at history@tamarac.org, or call (954) 597-3523.