Centennial Drone Show Highlighted Boca Firsts

By
Marci
Shatzman

Thousands
of
people
gathered
around
the
lake
at
Boca
Raton
Innovation
Center
Sunday
night
to
watch
Boca
Raton’s
Centennial
Celebration
Drone
Shows
and
Fireworks.
By
7
p.m.
hundreds
of
families
with
their
own
chairs
and
pushing
strollers
had
already
staked
out
their
spot
to
watch
the
sky
as
the
sun
went
down.
Young
kids
played
ball
on
the
lawns
that
were
soon
filled
with
spectators,
and
parents
introduced
toddlers
to
the
lakeside
ducks.

Then
DJ
Steve
Love
turned
up
the
volume
from
his
tent
so
the
growing
crowd
could
sing
along
while
they
waited
for
the
first
of
two
drone
shows
to
start.
By
8:20,
emcee
WPBF
TV
chief
meteorologist
Cris
Martinez
said
it
was
“time
to
light
up
the
sky,”
and
Boca
Mayor
Scott
Singer
paid
tribute
to
the
city’s
“past
and
our
future”
in
the
century
since
it
was
founded.

The
city’s
colorful
Centennial
logo
appeared
first
skyward,
followed
by
lighted
images
from
the
first
city
hall,
now
home
to
the
historical
society
and
museum,
to
architect/developer
Addison
Mizner’s
original
Cloisters
Inn
in
1925
that
grew
into
The
Boca
Raton.
The
venue
now
called
BRiC
and
owned
by
the
CP
Group
was
once
home
to
the
sprawling
IBM
campus,
and
an
image
of
the
personal
computer
invented
there
was
followed
by
marine
life
including
fish
and
a
sea
turtle,
a
banyan
tree,
and
a
young
woman
surfboarding
among
others.
Then
the
deejay
introduced
a
special
Boca
Raton
song
by
Salvo,
and
announced
the
drone
show
would
repeat
at
9:30
with
a
9:45
fireworks
finale.

“Drone
shows
are
handled
similarly
to
fireworks
shows,
all
coordination
is
done
at
the
FAA
level.
At
this
time,
we
are
not
expecting
any
impacts
to
airport
operations,”
nearby
Boca
Raton
Airport
deputy
director
Scott
Kohut
said
in
a
statement
a
few
days
before
the
shows.