News Coverage for the Bridge Street Merchants

Rachel and Justin Noyes and their Anna Maria shop, The Hive Creations (www.thehivestore.com), won Business of the Year from Manasota SCORE (www.score-suncoast.org). The Hive is a collection of handmade jewelry, artwork, clothing and décor. Counselor of the Year was awarded to Tom Latimer, John Stuart, Joe Pfeiffer, Ellen Brennan and Doug Barber. Distinguished Service Awards were given to Stuart, Jerry Ceppos, Norman Blum, Jeannette Watling-Mills, Diane Nydorf and Bill Murray. Paula Carson-Lindsey won the Certificate of Appreciation honor.

 Bridge Street celebrates the return of the poular Bridge Street Market Nov. 7 with a street fair. Highlights included musical performances, an array of arts and crafts vendors, other merchants, kayak demonstrations and a variety of food and beverage sales. The regular market begins Nov. 14.

If you missed part one last week of my spotlight on Historic Bridge Street in Bradenton Beach, I’ll recap a little and continue. I wanted to experience a day of limin’, an expression used in the Caribbean to mean chillin’, just hanging out without an agenda, or in other words, life on island time. What better time of the year to slow down and enjoy our special paradise than the sultry summer?

BRADENTON BEACH – Bradenton Beach is perhaps the liveliest of the three Anna Maria Island towns and while it maintains the quaint and distinct character of the island, it still manages a unique personality that sets it apart. The beautiful Australian pines contrast starkly with the blue waters and very few places make such smart use of ocean views, with restaurants and hotels on both sides of Gulf Drive angled or raised to celebrate the scenery of the sea.

The Bridge Street Merchants Association will host its first Anna Maria Island Chamber Biz Card Exchange Wednesday, May 26. It will feature a “Taste of Bradenton Beach” at Fish ‘N Hole at Venture Golf, Bridge Street, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Guests will enjoy samplings from the Beach House, the Sun House and Rotten Ralph’s restaurants, as well as a taste of the historic street’s personality. Cost is $5 donated to the AMI Chamber.

You will want to check out Bridge Street. There are several cool places here to shop for Island gifts. I suggest strolling with your family to the end of the newly constructed pier to breathe in the fresh air. When we did, we caught site of a pair of dolphins in the bay. It was beautiful.

Jeff Savenick, Johnny Jet magazine May, 2010

Sandy Doughty at the Sea Life 99 tent is framed by a shark’s jaw at the Bridge Street Market as she reads The Sun Saturday morning. Sea Life 99 features shells and other souvenirs from the sea.

The Real Florida Festival will be three days of fun in all three cities. The goal is to raise enough money to pay back Manatee County and the three cities that donated additional money to keep the Island trolley free to riders. Plans are now being finalized for the festival, which runs from Friday, April 16, through Sunday, April 18.

A celebration of the 40th anniversary of Earth Day will coincide with the birth of a new festival on Anna Maria Island.

The Real Florida Festival will take place April 16-18 on Anna Maria Island, with the fi nal day serving as a celebration of the Island’s great outdoor offerings.

The Historic Bridge Street Merchants Association is now a 501(c)3 non-profit group.

This status will allow the group to live up to its mission statement: A merchant group dedicated to promoting Bridge Street, the Bradenton Beach community and its businesses.

After nearly four months of hectic, intense planning, the Island’s Bridging the Gap campaign gets under way this week with a host of fun events that should take some of the sting out of the closure of the Anna Maria Island Bridge.

BRADENTON BEACH – Mainlanders and Island visitors must have gotten enough of the beach on the Fourth of July because a lot of them spent time the next day at the Bridge Street Market.

Bridge Street resembled a pre-Christmas outdoor mall as crowds of people spilled out from the busy market in the field across the street from BridgeWalk and into the stores up and down the city’s commercial district.

Debbie LeMieux and Annie Scheufler, owners of Flower Girls of Sarasota, pose with some of the floral arrangements they were selling at the Bridge Street Market on Saturday June 21. Despite rainy weather, a number of shoppers came to the event, which featured a number of vendors selling produce, smoothies, arts and crafts and T-shirts.

The Historic Bridge Street Merchants Association’s Memorial Day celebration held Sunday, May 25, raised $1,000 for shooting victim Sue Normand and attracted more than 2000 people to Bradenton Beach’s historic business district.

A check will be presented to Normand, the Holmes Beach businesswoman who was shot by a customer in December, at 9:45 a.m. on Wednesday, June 11, at Island Mail and More, 3230 East Bay Dr. Holmes Beach.