Letter to the Editor:

The citizens of Tama have things for which they can be thankful. First, they have a council and Mayor who devote time and effort into improving our community because they sincerely care about the city of Tama. We, as citizens, can also be thankful that we have the distinction of having a national monument in our town, the Lincoln Bridge.

This bridge, built in 1915, is absolutely the only one in existence in the entire United States of America. Folks who live close to the bridge comment that they are surprised at the number of people who stop to see the bridge and take pictures. One couple, whose picture at the bridge and comments appeared in a tourist publication, said that they had traveled the Lincoln Highway for a thousand miles but saw nothing as interesting as our bridge.

Even more impressive is that people who come to see the bridge have to do some “digging” to find it. Knowledge about the existence of our Lincoln Bridge is not easily accessible, so the fact that they are willing to put in effort to find it and visit it is even more remarkable. People generally like to have interesting tour sights presented TO them rather than having to discover them. Our city is missing an opportunity here in that we do not capitalize on this rare structure.

Finally, I have always thought of the Lincoln Bridge as mine and ours. However, in reality, at one time, it belonged to my grandparents. Then it belonged to my parents. And it WILL belong to our children and their children, passing from one future generation to another. This is our bequest, our legacy that we will pass on to them. It is THEIR bridge, too.

Anne Michael

Tama