Assistant City Attorney Brian Bartos, a Cape Coral Museum of History board member and longtime resident of Cape Coral, looks at one of the displays in the museum’s Breeze exhibit. PHOTO BY CJ HADDAD

A special exhibit at the Cape Coral Museum of History celebrating Cape Coral’s hometown newspaper was unveiled to the public last Thursday. 

The newest display, entitled, “All the News that’s Fit to Print,” details the history of the Cape Coral Breeze, which is marking its 60th anniversary this month. From the first newsletter dubbed the “Gulf Breeze” in 1961 to today’s full color, 40-plus page publication, there’s countless items and information to take in.  

“We thought it was a great opportunity to expand on this history we already have on The Cape Coral Breeze,” said museum Executive Director Janel Trull. “This is an opportunity for us to remind everybody that we have a wonderful local newspaper that is celebrating their 60th anniversary.”  

The Breeze published its first edition on Dec. 14, 1961, and is one of the important dates noted at the museum’s display, along with a cutout of Fred Cull, an early publisher of the newspaper. There also is a collection of Ed Klinka editorial cartoons, laminated issues of the Breeze from over the years, and other memorabilia.  

“It makes me happy that people came out to learn about our local newspaper,” said museum Board President and Cape Coral City Councilmember Gloria Tate. “Local is what it’s all about, and that’s what The Breeze has always stood for.” 

Cape Coral Museum of History Executive Director Janel Trull.

One article displayed titled, “History of the Breeze,” describes how the paper was first published starting in 1961 as a weekly, and how it evolved into a twice-weekly in 1974 and then a five-day-a-week daily in November 1975.  

The article goes on to document the locations where The Breeze offices have been housed — first in the Graf Building before moving to an office in the Cape Coral Shopping Plaza, then into a building next to the Cape Coral Post Office on Southeast 47th Terrace and then to its current location at 2510 Del Prado Blvd.  

“Knowing that we have our local paper here to keep tabs on everything that’s going on, it’s a benefit to the community, so we wanted to make sure we highlighted what The Breeze does for us and what they’ve done over the last 60 years,” Trull said.  

The museum also houses a number of other Breeze items in its archives, including photos and copies of the newspaper from the first year of publication on.  

For Tate, whose family was one of the first to arrive in Cape Coral, The Breeze has been a mainstay for decades.  

“It was a family gathering for us to read The Breeze on the weekends,” she said. “It was always in our home. We love the paper.  

“Tonight was magical, because you get to relive every edition or every headline. Our residents need to know this history of this city. If you don’t know our history, then you can’t appreciate how far we’re going.” 

The display area, which is located in the Clint & Sue Kelly Building on the museum’s campus, mentions several other publications that have been available in the Cape over the years, and the Lee County Shopper, which was a weekly publication of the Breeze Newspapers before it was consolidated into The Breeze classifieds section.  

“Janel Trull and the museum put together a wonderful display,” said Executive Editor Valarie Harring. “We appreciate their hard work. We also appreciate the kind words of former mayor Joe Mazurkiewicz, council members Tom Hayden and Gloria Tate and, of course, Ms. Trull. These are individuals with whom our newsroom has long worked and their opinions of our reporting and other efforts, be it kudos or criticism, is valued. And we do invite both.” 

Breeze Editor Chris Strine, who has been with the paper for nearly 40 years, added, “It’s an honor that the Cape Coral Museum of History is recognizing The Breeze’s 60th anniversary by creating a special exhibit about our publication. The Cape Coral Breeze has been providing news for this community almost since its inception, and to be featured is special and appreciated. It’s a tribute to not only our current staff, but also to all those who have worked here and contributed over the years. The Breeze has been covering the Cape now for six decades, and is part of the city’s history, and hopefully will be for some time to come.” 

In addition to the items already on display, the special exhibit dedicated to The Breeze includes items not normally on display along with memorabilia and other historical artifacts from the Breeze’s own archives. A highlight is the display of every edition of The Breeze over the first year of publication from 1961 to 1962. There’s even a press plate from a 1983 edition detailing the Rosen Building moving onto museum grounds.  

“It seems like the growth of Cape Coral was exploding in the early days, and The Breeze was right there in the thick of it, and has been ever since,” Trull said. “We have lots of different years of The Breeze on display, so you can look back at a certain year and learn something from a time frame you might not be familiar with. It’s a boon for us to have this in our collection and a nice way to give back to the community. The Breeze has changed the way it’s done things over the years, and it’s always with an eye towards making sure that residents are getting the most up-to-date, most inclusive, most unbiased and accurate news.”  

Trull said the display noting the newspaper’s 60th anniversary is similar to the other commemorative displays the museum has featured in recent years that included those on the history of the Cape Coral Fire Department, the Cape Coral Police Department and Cape Coral Hospital/Lee Health.

“Probably the highest praise I could give the exhibit is that I learned so much from it. What a fantastic job the museum staff has done,” said Breeze Newspapers Publisher Ray Eckenrode.  

The exhibit will be on display until April 2.  

The Cape Coral Museum of History is at 544 Cultural Park Blvd. Hours are from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesday-Friday, and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Admission for adults is $5 and free for children under 17 and students with ID. Tours are available and a gift shop is on site. For more information, visit www.capecoralhistoricalmuseum.com.  

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