From the archives: Nassau kicks off its centennial year

This story was originally published in Newsday on Jan. 4, 1999.

During a small ceremony yesterday that began Nassau County's yearlong centennial celebration, the few who braved a rainstorm to get there heard speeches and then sang "Happy Birthday" around a giant cake.

The 80-square-foot dessert, which was prepared by culinary students at Nassau Community College, depicted a map of the county and sat in the middle of the rotunda at the Old Courthouse in Mineola. An audience of some 100 people, mostly politicians, community leaders and county workers, surrounded it.

"Sometimes I guess if you live here and you work here and you were born here, people take for granted what we enjoy, but it is never more refreshing than to hear someone who comes from outside this county . . . and to talk to them and to hear them say, 'Where I was from, we never had this, " said Nassau County Executive Thomas Gulotta. "It's a special occasion for everybody in this county."

At noon on Jan. 3, 1899, supervisors from Hempstead, North Hempstead and Oyster Bay held their first board of supervisors meeting at a Mineola firehouse on Main Street, not far from where the Old Courthouse now stands. But in 1899, the courthouse - which would become the county seat - hadn't been built yet. That would not come until July, 1900, when New York Gov. Teddy Roosevelt of Oyster Bay laid the cornerstone.

Gulotta said during the past century, Nassau, which had 55,000 residents when it decided not to join New York City, has seen tremendous growth.

"One hundred years ago, there were those who looked at the barren lands throughout Long Island as a place perhaps where they could settle, but one that didn't provide hope," he said. Today, the county has 1.3 million residents, larger than the population of 15 states, and is one of the best places to live in the country, he said.

Officials said yesterday's festivities were the beginning of a year of centennial events that will end with a gala on Dec. 31. Among the events: Hofstra University has planned a county history seminar March 18-20, the county is organizing a major celebration in July, and educational videos will be sent to schools.

The ceremony also included a re-enactment of the first supervisors meeting by representatives from Old Bethpage Village Restoration and the Cradle of Aviation Museum. And just as they did in 1899, the three "supervisors" could not agree on an appointment for county clerk, so the frustrated group recessed.

After the mock meeting, James Foote, a Teddy Roosevelt re-enactor - sporting Roosevelt's signature spectacles - gave a speech, portions of which he took from the former president's speeches.

And later, Gulotta and the Nassau legislature's presiding officer, Bruce Blakeman, posed with Simba, a lion cub rescued from a Brooklyn home. Simba is now the county's official mascot, in reference to the lion on Nassau's coat-of-arms.

Joseph Proto of South Hempstead said he attended the birthday party because he felt he had to be there. A U.S. Army veteran, Proto said, "I'm very happy to be a resident of Nassau." He moved from Queens 17 years ago, and, as a father of three sons, he said he was impressed by Nassau's schools. "We're very pleased," he said.