The Punta Gorda herald., 1920-04-29
MANY LOCAL MEN
ATTENDED MYERS
BRIDGE MEETIN C
Large Delegation of Punta GordanS
Met With TT. Myers Board of
Trade Last Thursday
VISIT PAID DIVIDEND IN
BETTER UNDERSTANDING
Meeting Was a Regular Love Feast
and Brought Towns Closer To-
gcthcr Than Ever Before

A large number of Punta Gordans
went to Fort Myers last Tnur"day to
attend a meeting Of the Board of
Trade of that place, a committee Of
the Ccmmcncial Club having been in
vited to meet with the Fort Myers
Boarl of Trade to discuss plans for
the direct -tute be- "Cen tie two
places and the bridge that is to be
built across the CaloOsGkatChee by
Lee county.
All who after ded the meeting re
ported that they were neVer'in their
lives treated with more genuine hos
pitality than was shown by the Fort
Myers folk, and besides furthering
plans for linking the two places by a
good road, the meeting of the two
town in this manner had the effect
of bringing them closer together
than ever before, and establishing as
a fact the good will that exists.
A representative Of the Herald
could not attend the meeting, so the
report that appeared in the Press of
Fort Myers is reproduced in full:
Fort Myers and Punta Gorda,
through the representatives of their
respective wide-awake organizations,
held a love feast in the tourists re-
creation rooms of the Board of Trade
in the Arcade last night. The food
for thought at his love feast-and
that is what it was-wGs the prob
lem of building a new bridge across
the Caloosahatchee river at Fort
terests of these two neighboring
South Florida cities, that are i'm
bued with the spirit of the times
progress.
Time was when Fort Myers and
Punta Gorda were at outs. This city
had nOthin' agin its inaccessible
neighbor to the north, but gossip was
Carried back and forth and as oft
nes happens, the breach between
the two cities wideneG. Fort Myers,
it is said, did not like the way ii
thought Punta Gorda acted and Pun
ia Gorda, the story goes, pouted be-
cause she thought Fort Myers was
getting more attention from tourists
than she did-and so on.
But it's all different row. Fort
Myers and Punta Gorda are very |
warm friends. They showed they |
were last night. And more than that
Fort Mye,: and Punta Gorda agree
that a bridge across the river here
is BADLY NEEDED and that each
will be a beneficiary if such struc-
ture is built-and built right now" !
as the saying is.
The concensus of opinion of the |
public meeting held last night that |
teemed with interest from start to |
finish, was that 4 bridge ought to be |
built as som as possible across the
river, which. witt the comrieted con-
structior If a new hard surfaced |
road direC, t. Punta Gorda, will not |
only shorten by a good many miles
the distance between the two cities,
DuJ W III ~ ON-hS 81 SOOu MS II W dy
through Sarasota and Bradentown
on TO Tampa.
The bridge committee of the Board |
of Trade, of which A. L. White is
chairman, has two new members.
They were elected last nigAt. One is
C. w. Stribley, of Kaukauna, Wis,
and Fort Myers, and the other is J..
F. &C odale, an experienced civil en-
gineer recently elected to be men,
Der of the city council. This CON-
mittee, which IS to act in an advisory
way, has before ii two propositions.
One plan is the project to build
makeshift bridge across the river at
a nominal cost and the other is to
construct a fine structure to span the
Caloosahatchee that will meet pres
ert as well as future needs. 1t will
consider from every angle the matter
Of expense; locat, on; tolls; necessary
federal and state legislation, and
other important matters in connect
ion with the building of the bridge
and report back to the full member
ship of the Board of Trade, If pos
sible, next Thursday night. 1t will
consult from time to time with
committee to be named by the Punta
Torda Commercial Club.
The meeting list night was by far
he most enthusiastic ever held by {
The Fort Myers Board of Trade. An
eTon 125 persons were present. {