Queen Isabella Causeway 35th Anniversary Celebration

The City of Port Isabel and the Town of South Padre Island will celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the Queen Isabella Causeway with a number of events and ceremonies on both sides of the bridge.*****Events commemorating the bridge will begin with a special Museums of Port Isabel ''Telling Our Stories'' presentation by historians Steve Hathcock of South Padre Island and Rod Bates of Port Isabel. Scheduled for Thursday, 7:00 p.m. at the Treasures of the Gulf Museum in Port Isabel, Bates and Hathcock will share the history of connecting mainland with island from the days of ferry transportation to the construction of the first Queen Isabella Causeway in 1954 to the second causeway constructed 20 years later in 1974. The evening's program will be dedicated to the 2001 Queen Isabella Causeway collapse's victims, survivors and their families. The public is invited to attend. Refreshments will be served.*****A rededication ceremony of the historic marker on will take place on Saturday at 9:00 a.m., on the west end of the Queen Isabella Causeway. A number of dignitaries will take part in commemorating the 1974 construction of the bridge including Mayor of Port Isabel, Joe E. Vega and South Padre Island Mayor, Robert Pinkerton and Leo ''Speck'' Sanders, who was mayor of Port Isabel when the bridge was constructed in 1974.*****Festivities then continue at the South Padre Island City Hall with a reception scheduled for 2:00 p.m. A roundtable panel discussion of a variety of aspects of the history of connecting South Padre Island to Port Isabel will also take place. The public is invited to participate in the collection of our shared history from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.*****A commemorative medal has also been commissioned and will be available for $5.00 each at the Museums of Port Isabel's ''Telling Our Stories'', Thursday evening and through out Saturday's events. Only 500 pieces will be struck. After the Celebration/Rededication event, the medal will be available through the Port Is