Howard W. Hewitt – Bridgeton, Ind. – Wabash men just don’t leave a job undone. Nor do they wipe their hands after just one day of hard work.
For the second time this summer a group of Wabash students headed to Bridgeton in Parke County to assist with the reconstruction of the Bridgeton Covered Bridge. See complete photo album from Monday’s visit here.
Wabash students got interested in the project during the summer when senior John Meara selected covered bridges as his summer research project for Present Indiana. Soon the idea of the helping out the people of Bridgeton seemed like a natural extension of the project. Approximately 25 guys went down June 1 and helped stack lumber and clean up the lumber yard.
Tuesday Meara organized a group of 23 to return to Bridgeton and again lend a hand. The guys spent the better part of two hours applying the familiar red stain to the side panels of the new bridge.
The Bridgeton volunteers have constructed two large superstructures that will be the bridge’s foundation. Those two large structures will be moved to the location next to the Bridgeton Mill Monday morning and put in place by two huge cranes. Organizers expect the covered bridge to be in place and completed by time the wildly popular Parke County Covered Bridge Festival runs in early October.
The summer group had been hearing about the bridge from Meara and seeing photos before their trip. Many of the guys on the trip Monday were less familiar with the bridges in general and had only heard about the arson fire which destroyed the Bridgeton landmark over a year ago.
Still, after spending a day working with the Bridgeton locals and seeing the project first hand, they seemed to develop a legitimate interest. They even elected to take a little longer ride home to pass a couple of the county’s famous covered bridges.
Living humanely can be defined in many different ways – but lending a neighbor a hand has to be near the top of that list.
In photo: Dan Anglin puts red stain on one of the side panels which will become the covered bridge’s walls.
