COLD SPRING – The bridge into Cape May at end of the Garden State Parkway, over the Cape May Canal, was named the Cape May County Veteran’s Memorial Bridge in a ceremony Saturday Nov. 7.
The bridge was completed and dedicated in 1960 without a name. A ceremony naming the bridge and unveiling a plaques was the final event of Cape May’s 400th Anniversary Celebration.
According to Robert Elwell, historian and co-chair of the 400th Anniversary Committee, 49 years ago the bridge was to be named the William C. Hunt Bridge to honor the former Republican state senator, newspaper publisher and owner/operator of several movie theaters in the county. A veto was exercised by then Democratic Gov. Robert E. Meyner preventing the bridge from being named for Hunt.
A subsequent effort to name the bridge as a memorial to veterans by the Peterson-Little VFW Post 386 of Cape May also failed, according to Elwell.
The 400th Anniversary Committee asked Sen. Jeff Van Drew to draft legislation to name the bridge in honor of the county’s veterans. On Sept. 13, 2009, a state law gave the bridge its new name.
Van Drew was the key note speaker for the dedication which took place on the Lower Township side of the bridge on a side street with a view of the bridge and canal.
Brig. General Jeffrey J. Pierson (Ret.) Director of NGTC, Sea Girt, was the master of ceremonies for the event.
The U.S. Coast Guard Training Center Cape May provided a color guard and its recruit band.
Speakers included Commander Joe Harris, DAV Chapter 44, Capt. Cari Thomas, Commander U.S. Coast Guard Training Center, County Freeholder Gerald Thornton and Vince Pace, a former World War II prisoner of war.
James Roney unveiled the plaques dedicating the bridge to veterans surrounded by a number of guests and officials.
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