BRADENTON BEACH – The hurricane-damaged AMI Moose Lodge #2188 celebrated a joyous reopening on May 1.
Offering limited seating and no on-site parking, the lodge is now open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Offering a full menu and daily specials, the kitchen is open from noon to 7 p.m.
The lodge reopened Thursday morning at 11 a.m. with a short line of Moose members waiting in line outside the construction fence that still surrounds the lodge parking lot. A few minutes before parking lot attendants Jerry Wheeler and Eddie Huffsman opened the gate, Lodge Administrator Byron Dalton addressed the waiting members and said, “Thank you very much for being here.”
When speaking to The Sun, Dalton said, “This is a godsend. This is phenomenal. We’ve been waiting for seven months. The officers and employees have been busting their butts to get us open and now we’re here.”…