News

By Tim O’Meilia
    
Whaddaya do when the danged guvmint closes the bridge to the beach for 19 months and promises to build a nice, new, tall shiny replacement?
    Why, ya throw a party of course.
    The East Ocean Avenue bridge in Lantana officially closes to automobile traffic sometime after midnight March 19.
    But the town of Lantana will close it a day early — March 18 — and throw a Demolition Day party at Bicentennial Park on the west bank of the Intracoastal Waterway.
    The highlight of the day will be the 2 p.m. parade of The Last _____ Over the Bridge. People have been signing up with their fantasies about being the last whatever to cross the span: the last Cub Scout troop, the last unicycle, the last man carrying his wife, maybe even the last hearse over the bridge.
    Emcee Greg Rice will offer his unique commentary of the Last Parade.
    Town Manager Mike Bornstein said, “We just wanted to remind people that our downtown will still be open for business after the bridge closes.”
    Partying begins at noon with music by the Mighty Quinn band and food provided by the town’s best restaurants. Kids can take their first and last hayride across the bridge, enter a chalk art contest or play on the tire swing in the park.
    Free parking is available at Kmart Plaza at Dixie Highway and Hypoluxo Road with an old-fashioned trolley shuttling revelers to the park and back. The shuttle begins at 11:30 a.m. The fun lasts until 5 p.m.