Meet the Press

Listening to the Vin Mannix of the Bradenton Herald gave me a new insight into the same stories, and the columnist even managed to get some stories from him that I hadn't heard. My childhood friends will remember the old flashing sign that welcomed people into Bradenton before the flashy PR firms came in. It was a billboard on what's now the Bradenton Herald property across the street (west) from Manatee Memorial Hospital as one enters Bradenton driving across the Manatee Bridge (US 41). On the sign was a man in a small boat reeling in an arching fishing pole with a fine catch at the end. The lights would flash off and on, animating the fishing line and the fish at the end, making what in those days was a memorable entrance to the "friendly city." What I never knew was that my father was president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce when that sign was conceived and installed.

That's the day when amateur radio operators held court like today's animators and filmmakers, I suppose. He and his buddies came up with the idea and sold it among the business community, but the had to raise the money to pay for the electricity because the city still wouldn't pay for the extra it cost to light up the sign. So today's commercial folks have little to complain about in comparison, all things considered.

They were also the same crowd who were responsible for getting the first holiday decorations put up downtown, adding a note of cheer to city streets. That's quite a surprise to me, as I kind of thought of Daddy as quite grumpy about the holidays. Guess that's what happened after he sold the Bradenton Credit Bureau that his father founded and went to work for the US Post Office as a clerk. Those kind of holiday hours are enough to discourage anybody. No wonder my parents never complained about my getting up early on Christmas morning -- one or the other of them were just getting home from the overnight shift at the Post Office.

Those were the days.