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Whether it's our commitment to clients, or to our work in the community, involvement lies at the core of everything we do. Saralyn Abel Dorrill 941.364.2741 Attorneys at Law C H A R L O T T E | C O L U M B U S S A R A S O T A | T A M P A | T O L E D O 941.366.6660 • slk-law.com Our practice of involvement extends to the entire community. Ford and Edison continued their success together for about fieen years until 1931, when Edison passed away. Soon aer, Ford stopped coming to their retreat, and in 1945 the Fords sold e Mangoes to omas and Gladys Biggar. It became their family home for the next 40 years, until the Biggars sold it to the City of Fort Myers in 1988. e home was restored to its 1920s appearance and was re-opened to the public in 1990. Two years aer Ford sold their property, Edison's widow deeded the Seminole Lodge to the City of Fort Myers as well, in memor y of omas Edison. It too was restored and re-opened to the public in 1950. In 2006 the property got an infusion of capital, a restoration face-li and is avail- able for the world to discover. So much about Fort Myers had changed with the arrival of omas Edison and Henr y Ford that this writer is surprised the town isn't called Ford Myers. As you can imagine, Edison had something to do with bring- ing telephone ser vice to the lile frontier town as early as 1900. Ford and Edison's donations helped finance the first volunteer Fire Department and naturally a municipal public water system had to be built to accom- modate Edison, Ford, Eastman, Firestone and the flood of guests that would arrive. Entertainment and business catered to them, which made the downtown area boom and put Fort Myers Countr y Club on par with some of the best clubs in the world. Did you ever wonder why the Tamiami Trail links to Miami at Fort Myers? Myster y solved! Edison's wife Mina took the trail T'Miami oen. Today, any of us could drive across the trail or to Disneyland or Busch Gardens and be dazzled by the en- tertainment and thrill of brightly lit amusements. But to sit on the same huge porch where those bril- liant minds rocked, is a whole other thrill. Especially when one realizes they couldn't drive to those desti- nations, much less see those bright lights without Edison or Ford. It doesn't take a genius to know that Fort Myers offers a variety of amaz- ing tourist destinations, but it did take a couple of geniuses to invent the Edison and Ford Winter Estate. Edison & Ford Winter Estates, 2350 McGregor Blvd., Fort Myers, FL 33901 Phone: 239.334.7419 Edisonfordwinterestates.org Edison's Labratory Ford's Model T Continued from page 63

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