Oral History interview with Kent Chetlain For WQSA RADIO Interview

Interviewed by

Pat Lawson

Transcript of tape recorded interview as part of

the

Manatee Historical Society Oral History Project

Year: 1987; Interview: 1

April 1, 1987

Bradenton, Florida FOR USE IN LIBRARY IV 181 C Page 1 ONLY MANATEE COUNTY PUBLIC MANATEE COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY LIBRARY SYSTEM Kent Chetlain - WQSA Radio April 1, 1987

Pat Lawson: Good morning. Six minutes after 9 o'clock. Welcome to Newsline. I'm Pat Lawson along with Pete Schofhausen. Today is Wednesday, April 1st, April Fool's Day. Lon Cheney was born on this date in 1883. Wallace Berry and Eddie Beechen have anniversaries of their birth today. Debbie Reynolds is 55. Ali McGraw is 49 today. Before we get started this morning, I have a letter here from a listener, a letter poured into our desk this morning. It says: "Dear Pat and Pete. Enjoy your program very much. I think it's the best thing on radio and I'm certainly happy to listen to you every morning." Then down here at the bottom it says: "I wish I were writing this myself, but they won't let me have anything sharp." Okay. That's our April fool for today. In our studio with us this morning we have a guest we've been trying to book for a long time. He's a busy man. He used to be, and still is, a newspaper writer. He's a baseball player, an umpire, a student of local history, a former sportscaster, and presently, best known to most folks in this area as Manatee County Commissioner Kent Chetlain. Good morning, Mr. Chetlain. Answer: Good morning, Pat. Question: It's good to have you with us. Answer: Well, it's good to be here. Question: We had promised our listeners yesterday when we told them that you would be here that we weren't going to do too much about politics this morning. We really wanted to talk about your vast knowledge of local history. But before we do get started, because of this rain, what's our situation out at Lake Manatee? Because Sarasota and Manatee both get water from that particular reservoir. Answer: Well, our reservoir, of course, obviously is brimming over. In fact, we're releasing a total of a million and a half gallons a minute over the flood gates at our dam at Lake Manatee. And to give you a little idea how much water that is, Sarasota County has been drawing on an average of around 10 to 12 million gallons a day and that equates to about ten minutes of what is going over the dam, so you can see it's a tremendous amount of water there. Question: Well, at least there's one thing about it. With any luck at all, we'll have the water table built up and perhaps no shortage this summer. Answer: I don't think there's any question of that. In fact, recalling back, I remember when I was a reporter with the Bradenton Herald in 1959, we had a hundred inches of rain in the city of Bradenton by one rain gauge. And I think the official count out at the Oneco tower was about 72 inches for MM 181 C Page 2 the year, which is a tremendous amount and probably close to a record at least for the figures that we’ve been keeping. That particular year, we set the record for the most rain in March. And I think, I haven't seen the totals yet, but I'm sure we've approached that this March. Whether that indicates a cycle of rain this summer, I don't know. But it could be. Question: You came to us from out of the state, you've certainly lived in Florida for a lot longer than I have. Pete grew up here. The place we're sitting now in Sarasota County, as I understand it, used to be Manatee County. This all used to be one huge county, didn't it? Answer: Oh, yes. Manatee County was created by the act of the legislature or an act of the legislature in 1855. And it was actually larger than the state of Connecticut. The boundaries were its present northern boundary and south to the Caloosahatchee River by Fort Myers there and then on east to Lake Okeechobee. In fact, the original legal description of the county encompassed an area that hadn't been surveyed. So they said on or near Lake Okeechobee to the east. And roughly up the west bank of the Kissimmee River. And this was slightly more than the whole area of Connecticut. Question: I understand back then that the county seat wasn't even in Bradenton. Answer: The original county seat was in Manatee, which is now part of east Bradenton. It's interesting to note that in the Act of Creation the act called for the county seat to be called Palos, and I looked up in history, and the only Palos that I could come across was the embarkation point of Christopher Columbus when he sailed to the New World on his discovery in 1492. So I think the fact that we had so much Spanish influence down this west coast due to the Spanish fishermen coming up from Cuba and, of course, the earlier conquistador exploration, Ponce de Leon and DeSoto and so forth, had an influence on the legislature at that time. Question: How did people back then in the middle 1800s, what did they do for their livelihood? How did they make a living in Manatee County? Answer: Well, there weren't very many people, of course, in Manatee County then. I think at the time of creation it was estimated there were probably maybe 500 white people, if there were that many. Probably more Indians. And the area was pretty uninhabitable because during the summer months the inland part of the area down here was pretty much inundated by water, standing water, much like we have right now. And the old maps reflect this. They show lakes, vast lakes in the interior part of the county. So we had a lot of mosquitoes, and so it was pretty difficult living surviving in those days. But to get back to your original question, what they did. Primarily, along the coast here they fished. And the Indian mounds, if you go through them, you see a tremendous amount of shells and they made their utensils MM 181 C Page 3 out of shells. So this was a very bountiful area for fishing. And to a slight degree, there was some agriculture. I know that in the original community of Manatee they discovered near a big well there the evidence of an Indian civilization and they discovered also that the Indian grew maize and some other crops. But primarily, I think that the early inhabitants relied to a large degree on fishing and to some degree on hunting. Question: I've heard that some of the crops that were grown back then in the middle 19th century aren't even grown in our area any longer. I'm thinking sugarcane was grown and lemons. And neither one of those are commercially grown in our area anymore, are they? Answer: You're right. Of course, you know, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has certain quotas in things. For example, we can't grow peanuts in this area even though we have sandy soil, we could conceivably grow them. But we couldn't grow them and sell them commercially and be eligible for the federal grants and things, subsidies I should say. But you're absolutely right. In fact, the first white civilization or American civilization in this area was just after the Second Seminole Indian War in 1842 when the federal government passed the Armed Occupation Act which allowed the people to come down and homestead 160 acres in exchange for pledging to bear arms. That's how the act got the name the Armed Occupation Act, in case of emergency. And the Manatee River was one of the earliest settlements right after the Indian War, and the big crop there was, of course, sugarcane. There were about three or four plantations, Dr. Braden's plantation on the south side of the river for whom Bradenton got its name, and on the north side was Major Robert Gamble who built Gamble Mansion, and his tract I think encompassed about 1,500 acres. And this was the largest sugar producing area prior to the Civil War in Florida, one of the largest in the country. Question: You spoke of commercial fishing back in the early days of white settlement in Manatee County. We heard conflicting reports today, and many people that you talk to say that fishing is not what it used to be. Is that true? Have we gone through and harvested too many of our fish? Answer: Well, I can only judge from what I've heard other old-timers talk and the like, plus my own observations living in this area for 30 years. And I have to say that the elimination of many of the nursing areas in grass flats to development have been detrimental to the fish population. Now, one old commercial fisherman told me that the thing that really hurt fishing in this area was the first outbreak, at least in memory, of red tide in 1947. He said prior to that he said you couldn't walk in Terra Ceia Bay, for example, without being stung by a stingray. And today you can wade out there and you don't see those things. He said what it did, it seemed to just about clean out the bottom of the bays of fish that were in abundance. Question: We're at 16 minutes after 9 o'clock. I'm Pat Lawson along MM 181 C Page 4 with Pete Schofhausen. Our guest in the studio today is Manatee County Commissioner Kent Chetlain. We're talking about some historical things today, and we'll be back with more in just a moment. It's 18 past 9 o'clock. This is Newsline, Pat Lawson along with Pete Schofhausen. Our guest in the studio today is Manatee County Commissioner Kent Chetlain who has done many, many things in an interesting lifetime. We're talking about history today. We, maybe I, I guess everybody is not the same way I am. I've often felt that someplace in my family tree there were some horse thieves. I guess that's the sort of thing. We've talked about some of the more solitary things and the ordinary, everyday working folk of early Manatee County. DeSoto Celebration is coming up this month, and we look back at that period of time with some romance even though there has been a question about his actual point of arrival. What about pirates and rumrunners and some of the more romanticized things and less talked about items of early Manatee. Tell us about some of the interesting characters that you've learned about in your historical travels. Answer: Well, obviously there was a certain amount of piracy on this coast. Not as much as the mainline, the lifeline from the Spanish Main to Spain, which primarily went through the Florida Straits and followed the Gulf Stream to a large extent. But we have had our share of different pirates and a lot of legend comes down to us. Unfortunately, not much is documented so it's kind of a word, hand- to-mouth, at least in the early days. Of course, we know that in later years that some of the natives around here were rumrunners, something that, of course, was very popular during prohibition. I ran into one old character from up in Terra Ceia that told me about some of his exploits, and one interesting aspect of one of his trips was that during a severe storm, in order to prevent him being washed overboard, he took and literally lashed himself to the helm. Of course, obviously survived. But had he not done that, of course, he said he wouldn't be here today. We had quite a bit of the rum-running on the west coast because it was easy to bring the boats in at night into the heavily mangroved area where they were met by trucks that would back in there. Question: Pretty much like the drug traffickers today in some cases. Answer: Yes. Pretty much the same way. Of course, they didn't have all the modern roads and things like that, and this was less densely populated so it probably was a lot easier to get away with. And we have the modern surveillance and things, you know, there are so many things that we have today that we didn't have in those days. But this was a point of importation of illegal liquor and rum. Question: Part of a local legend in our area is Confederate Secretary of State Judah P. Benjamin when he sought refuge at Gamble Mansion. Was this area very much affected by the Civil War, or was it sufficiently isolated MM 181 C Page 5 that it didn’t really touch on us? Answer: No, it played a part because Egmont Key was a Union or Yankee base, naval base. It was small but it was still a base, and it was a refuge for fleeing slaves and also many northerners who had come down prior to the war sought refuge both at Fort Myers and at Egmont Key. There were many northerners, and I say many, there were a number of northerners who lived here during the Civil War that were loyal to the south. For example, Ezekiel Glazier, Mr. Glazier was from Massachusetts and he is the one that built the first courthouse which we have rejuvenated and now is standing in our Historical Village up there in Manatee. Question: And that's at the corner of Manatee Avenue and 15th Street? Answer: Yes. I think it's probably the oldest original courthouse in existence, and that was built in 1860. And Glazier, he also worked on the Braden Castle which, of course, now is just about disappeared. He had a hand in a lot of the early development in the original settlement. He stayed loyal to the south. To get back to the encounters that we had in the Civil War, the Yankee gunboats would come up the Manatee River periodically and land and burn out the sugar vats and would pillage the area. And at one time, the Gamble Mansion had been sold to a family by the name of Davis, and the word was that it was really Jefferson Davis' plantation. So supposedly they came up the river and they burned out the vats and they raided the Gamble Mansion. Question: Twenty-five minutes after the hour. We have a caller on the line for Kent Chetlain. Hello, you're on the air with Commissioner Chetlain. Caller: I would like to ask you, can you tell me who that doctor was that had his hideaway here at Bradenton? I remember being there and seeing the place. He had his hideaway he could go by boat hidden from the water to his place and sneak out of his place. There was a fence around the yard. I can't remember. I just for the life of me can't. And I thought maybe you can tell who it is. Answer: Are you referring to Dr. Braden's Castle? Caller: I believe. I believe that was it. Answer: Well, Dr. Braden and his brother, an attorney, Hector Braden, came down here before the Civil War and just after the Second Seminole Indian War, and they bought and also homestead most of what is now east Bradenton and part of downtown Bradenton. Caller: Yes. That's where it was at. Are you putting it on the radio now over the air? Answer: Yes. So that is the origin of the name Bradenton. It was named after Dr. Braden, the original settler there. Caller: Yes. I often figured that I didn't get a chance to drive up there MM 181 C Page 6 to see if the castle is still there. Answer: Well, there's very little remaining of the castle, just kind of like a mound of tabby that's about all that's left. However, they have a picture there that shows the original castle as it was in its original splendor. Caller: Yes. Now, who did you say it was? Answer: Dr. Braden. Caller: Dr. Braden. Answer: B-r-a-d-e-n. Caller: I remember a lot of these things by mind, and I came from Pennsylvania, and I seen it. And while I was sitting here listening to you, I thought, well, I wish I just remembered, so I thought I'm going to call and see if I can find out. Well, I'm glad you could tell me. Answer: I'm glad to help you. Caller: All right. Thank you. Question: Thank you. There's a mobile home park on that site now, isn't there? Answer: Well, there's a community surrounding it called Braden Castle. And it was started in 1924 during the old Florida land boom. And they built cottages, and these cottages are just a very few feet apart from each other. And they each year would maybe add one or two. And it's one of the oldest winter resorts in the west coast of Florida. Question: I wanted to ask you about that. When did Florida, and this area in particular, start to become a resort where people left one area and came down for the winter or a while during the cold months and then went back? Answer: Well, when you look back and you trace the history of some of the families that came here originally, we found that even before the Civil War there were many northerners coming down here who had either consumption which was tuberculosis, very prevalent in those days, and bronchitis and other maladies that they suffered in the winter. So you had a few sprinkling of those northerners coming here even before the Civil War. But the big influx began after the Civil War. And I know some of my southern friends, they always correct me by saying the War Between the States so it just depends on how you want to refer to it. But nevertheless, after 1865 when the Civil War ended, beginning not too long after that, we had an influx of people. Of course, we had an influx of a lot of the carpetbaggers right after the war, opportunists who were trying to take advantage of the change, the dramatic change in the political arena and also taking advantage of the fact that the slaves were enfranchised, and the Friedman Bureau started and so forth. But I think you will find the real big rush that came to Florida occurred in the 1880s, particularly on this coast. And it parallels the arrival of the railroad in Tampa in 1884, which literally opened up the west coast of Florida. Now, there had been a narrow gauge MM 181 C Page 7 line that ran from Fernandina Beach on the east coast through Gainesville over to Cedar Keys. This was used for quite a while and it was the only railhead on the west coast until 1884. But it was not as popular and did not carry near the traffic and did not have any direct rail link with the north as the railroad that eventually became the Atlantic Coastline in the Plant system to Tampa in 1884. Question: It's 9:30. You're listening to Newsline. I'm Pat Lawson along with Pete Schofhausen. Our guest in the studio today is Kent Chetlain, a man of many abilities and remarkable memory, too. We're talking about history of Manatee County, the county where he is a commissioner. We're going to stop for the news and we'll be back with more in just a moment. Twenty-three minutes before 10 o'clock as we continue on. I'm Pat Lawson along with Pete Schofhausen. Our guest in the studio today is Manatee County Commissioner Kent Chetlain. We haven't talked about county things too much other than some history. Kent is a newspaper writer and I know a big fan of both playing baseball and softball and umpiring. When I worked at another radio station in the area, I remember Kent was the umpire for that official thing between our radio station and the other one. And we lost in spite of the fact that I have been friends with Kent for some time. But anyway, aside from that, you can't replace talent with good umpiring. And on the subject of that, one of the many things in addition to the delightful weather that we have in the area, we get to see some big named stuff, basically spring training. Let's talk a little bit about spring training. Do you get to the games a lot, the Pirates and Sox? Answer: I get to as many games as I possibly can, but unfortunately, my present duties are such that it makes it very difficult. But I was raised a White Sox fan so I feel right at home in this area because I was raised in suburban Chicago. And, of course, being sports editor of the Bradenton Herald for a while, I got to know quite a few baseball people. When the Milwaukee Braves were here training and also later the Kansas City Athletics when Charlie Finley had the ball club there. And of course, when the Pittsburgh Pirates came to Bradenton in 1969. So I've had a very close relationship. And then it dates back to the days when I was sports editor over in Orlando and I remember seeing Harmon Killebrew break in with the Washington Senators at Tinker Field, and interestingly enough, the president of Manatee Community College, Steve Korchek was also a rookie, that was back in 1954, with the Washington Senators. Question: He's still in good shape. Answer: Yes, he is. And I remember him at that time over in Bradenton that same spring in '54 Hank Aaron broke in with the Milwaukee Braves and started his illustrious career. One thing I think that has been forgotten, naturally because it's happened in the past, the man responsible for bringing big league baseball to Sarasota was John Ringling. A lot of MM 181 C Page 8 people don't realize this, but Ringling was you might say a drinking friend of John McGraw, the little Napoleon they called him there, the manager of the New York Giants. And Ringling persuaded McGraw to train in Sarasota in 1924 and '25. And a very interesting way that McGraw came to spring training in Sarasota. It was his habit every winter to go to Havana where he liked to bet on the horses, and of course, as you know, Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis frowned on any gambling by baseball people. So McGraw cut the corners by getting out of the country and doing it. Anyway, McGraw and his retinue down there in Havana took a boat to Tampa and John Ringling sent his 100-foot yacht from Sarasota up through the old narrow Cortez Bridge and on up to Tampa to meet McGraw and his people and bring them down to Sarasota. So the first major league manager to train in Sarasota came here by boat. And they built Payne Park on property that Calvin Payne gave to the City of Sarasota expressly for the purpose of accommodating the fans to watch the New York Giants in 1924. Question: There's a lot of fascination with the sport here in Florida right now with spring training going on, a lot of craziness, you can't find a parking place, and you have trouble getting past McKechnie Field when there's a game going on, but what are the benefits to the communities who host these teams during spring training, aside from the fact that it's entertaining and that a lot of people from up north come down here simply to watch? Other real economic benefits to the towns that are angling for the teams? Answer: Well, there's no question that baseball pumps in a lot of money into the community from the business standpoint. Not only is baseball just a springtime thing here, baseball has become almost a year-round industry in the Sarasota area. I think it was Arthur Allyn, who one time was owner of the Chicago White sox, helped create what is now known as the Gulf Coast Minor League. It's a rookie league that runs for about 2-1/2 months in the summer and, of course, in the fall we have the winter instructional league which is really a finishing school for major league stars. We probably have had more big league stars come out of that one program than any other, and it lasts about 2-1/2 months and they fall. Tom Saffell is the president of both of those leagues and the mere fact that we have these leagues, and it's interesting because all the teams are located in just two towns. It isn't like most minor leagues where you have maybe an 8- or 10-team league spread out all over. They're all concentrated in two communities, mostly Sarasota. And what this does is, this brings scores of scouts down to the area. Well, they have to come here and stay at motels. They eat their meals out. They spend their money. They're on expense accounts, of course. But baseball is a big thing for this area from an economic standpoint, if nothing else. Question: Sarasota Herald Tribune on I believe Sunday and also MM 181 C Page 9

Monday has had a series of articles, pretty good articles, I might add, dealing with the financial benefits to the communities, and some big heavy millions of dollars. That's the plus side of it. On the other side of the coin, the race is heating up between the cities and the counties to try to get the clubs to come in. It's an outright bidding war in some particular cases. What does municipality in the case of Sarasota or Bradenton have to do to get, attract, and keep a major league baseball team? Answer: Well, of course, they have to have the facilities, a ballpark and now days you have to have a baseball complex comparable to the Pirate's City in Bradenton and the Royals complex off Clark Road. Of course, the Texas Rangers have been beneficiaries of a beautiful layout there in Elja Bean. I think they refer to it as Port Charlotte, but I think it's closer to the old ancient town of Elja Bean than anyplace else. But anyway, you have to have a baseball complex — when I say baseball complex, I'm talking about at least a 4-diamond complex that's altogether so scouts and the people can watch four different games from one single tower. You have to have a park for the regular spring training exhibition games that has a fairly decent seating capacity. And you have to have all the other facilities that are available for housing. Question: Now, I know that in the case of Manatee/Sarasota, in the case of Bradenton, it is actually the city that operates it. Does the county have anything to do with that one way or the other? Answer: Yes, the county contributes through the reserve tax. For the past three to four years, the county has paid the city out of the reserve tax. It's a nominal amount of money, but it is a contribution of about $15,000- $16,000 per year. I've always felt that the benefits of having a ball club really are trans into city limit line. Most of the permanent players and officials, they stay on the island when they're here. And of course, the island cities don't make any contribution, per se, and they benefit to a large degree from the big league clubs being here. Question: This area has had so many marvelous outright characters who migrated to the area for one reason or another. You mentioned Elja Bean. I was wondering if you'd tell us a little bit about that fellow who settled down in that area. He felt the earth was hollow. Answer: I think you're talking about, if I'm not mistaken, Mr. Tweed, but he's a little further down the coast. He was at a place, Bonita Springs, south of Fort Myers. And he came up with a rather radical idea that we were living inside the globe and not outside the globe as we now know it. And he had some disciples and they followed him like many of the religious sects that seemed to attract people. There was one person, a fellow named Andrews, who wrote a book about his experiences here in the gulf coast and his experiences with this particular religious sect, but as far as I know, it's completely died out now and I think they've got a few buildings down there MM 181 C Page 10 that they erected. Question: It's my understanding that one of the tenants of their philosophy was celibacy, and that may have had something to do with why it died out. Answer: Yes, if they practiced their religion. Question: Twelve minutes away from 10 o'clock. This is Newsline. I'm Pat Lawson along with Pete Schofhausen. Our guest in the studio today is Kent Chetlain. We'll be back with more in just a moment. It's eleven before 10 o'clock. Having some fun this morning with Kent Chetlain. He is Manatee County Commissioner, newspaper writer, baseball player, umpire, student of local history, former sportscaster. You played in senior league softball and I know you umpire. How did you get started as an umpire? Answer: Well, really, I've done very little umpiring. Question: He is, by the way, wearing a blue suit today. Answer: Yeah, I may look like one here. But actually, and I may feel like one as county commissioner. But really most of my baseball started out in youth, of course, playing and then ultimately, of course, I became a sports writer and a sports editor. Now, my latter years, believe it or not, I'm 59 and I'm playing in the over-50 league in Manatee County and enjoying it very much. It's slow pitch softball, of course. Question: You still write your newspaper column, if I'm not mistaken, in the Longboat Observer; is that right? Answer: Yes. I write a real estate column for the Longboat Observer. Question: The history of baseball in this area, as we were talking about, can you trace for us a little bit how they came to select Bradenton/Manatee as a baseball area and who was behind building what is McKechnie Field now and Pirate's City, and also why are they so far apart? Answer: Well, first of all, to answer your first question, how baseball came to this area. Bradenton was host to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1923 that was the first major league team I believe on the southwest coast. And it occurred just as the Florida boom was feeling up right after the First World War. The way Bradenton got their team, Bob Beall told me of Beall's Department Store that Sam Brieden, who was an automobile dealer in St. Louis, owned an orange grove up the Manatee River. In looking about for a spring training site, the teams in those days would either go to Texas or they'd come to Florida, and so because he owned the property here, the local boosters persuaded him to come to Bradenton and the community, city specifically, would build a ballpark at the present site of McKechnie Field, believe it or not. I think it's the only spring training stadium or site that is still being used from the time it was first built. So the Cardinals of those days, which included future Hall of Famer Jim Bottomly and Rogers Hornsby, the Cardinals at that time came to Bradenton in 1923 and they also brought MM 181 C Page 11 two of their farm teams. They brought the Columbus, Ohio team and also the Syracuse team from New York. Those were the number one and two farm teams of the Cardinals. And the manager of the Cardinals, believe it or not, was Branch Rickey. And so they trained there in '23. And I think it probably had a lot to do with helping Mr. Ringling persuade John McGraw to bring the New York Giants the next year to Sarasota to train because, of course, they were only 12 miles apart. And of course, the City of Sarasota got behind it and they built Payne Park on property that Calvin Payne donated to the city. So 1924, a very interesting thing about that '24 season, that first season that Sarasota was host to a major league ball team. There were four rookies on that team that would get to the Hall of Fame. One of them was Bill Terry, first baseman, was the last national league hitter to bat over 400, he did it in 1930, I believe he hit 401. And then there was Hack Wilson, the big slugger for the Chicago Cubs. I say big, he was only 5 foot 6, but he was built like a fireplug. He hit 56 homeruns in 1930, the same year that Terry hit 400. And he knocked in 190 runs, incredible, 190 runs. That's one record that may stand. Incidentally, his 56 homeruns in the national league is a season record for national league hitters. No one has ever exceeded that. We talk about Babe Ruth and Roger Maris but they did that in the American League. Also, they had a third baseman by the name of Fred Lindstrom who later became the postmaster in Evanston, Illinois. Fred Lindstrom one year as a third baseman hit 386 credible average. Question: With the conditions of the roads back then, I'm wondering, did they travel much or did they just play intra-squad games? You mentioned that a couple of the clubs brought their farm teams down. Answer: They traveled by train. I know I was talking to Ed Rosche, the oldest member of Baseball's Hall of Fame, who incidentally is back home drinking beer after his last heart attack, he'll be 94 in May. Question: After my own heart. Next time you call me chubby, just remember fireplug is a better term. I like that. Answer: Rosche told me, he said that when they trained in 1920 in Miami, they would take the train almost all the way to Jacksonville and then come over, transfer and come down to Tampa to play in the Tampa Bay area and St. Petersburg. So they had to use a train to a large extent. Now, in the local area here they would travel, there were always about one or two macadam roads that they could get by. But in those days, they didn't have the ferry across Tampa Bay, and in order to get from Sarasota to, say, St. Petersburg, it was practically an all-day trip by car. Question: It is now, too, except it's because of the traffic on the Skyway. When are they going to get that thing painted? Have you heard anything in your official capacity?

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Answer: They keep saying it will be at the first of April and so on. Well, the reason they can't complete it is that the type of paint that they're going to paint those cables necessitates a dry day. And as you well know, we've had one rainstorm after another this winter, very unusual for this time of year. And as a result, until they get some dry weather, they're not going to be able to get that Skyway open. Question: Speaking of points north, I saw in the newspaper the other day that Port Manatee is the third business port in the state of Florida. And that's probably pretty exciting for everyone around here. What kind of cargo is coming through there? Any interesting stuff? I saw a Soviet ship even came in last week. Answer: Yes, the Soviet ship brought in some wood products, we import quite a bit of that. But basically we've gotten into containerized port business now where the cargo is containerized. And also, we are probably the banana import capital of at least Florida. The big boats come up from Columbia with the bananas. Frequently they discovered pot, bales of pot among there. The border patrol confiscated quite a bit of drugs over the past year and a half from these boats. But anyway, they take the bananas and they run them down conveyor belts right into the trucks, big trucks, refrigerated trucks, which as soon as they fill up, they highball it up the interstate and they're in New York City within 38 or 39 hours. Question: We're three minutes before 10:00. Kent Chetlain, thank you so much for being with us today. Answer: It's been my pleasure, Pat. I enjoy it. Question: Interesting hour. We appreciate having Kent take time off. He's a busy man as a Manatee County Commissioner and newspaper writer and so many other things, all that he does well.