It's Confirmed! The Empire State will be celebrating the rehabilitation of both the Copeland and Fitch's Covered Bridges this summer, so mark your calendars with these important dates:

Copeland Covered Bridge - NY 32-46-01 Saturday - June 29, 2002. The celebration will begin at 11:00 am with a brief ceremony at the bridge. Please note: Parking is very limited near the bridge so you may want to park at the Edinburg Town Hall and share a ride with someone or ask to park (briefly) at a nearby business. If you are unable to stand for any length of time, please feel free to bring a lawn chair to the bridge. A reception will be held at the Edinburg Town Hall immediately after the ceremony with some light fare.

Fitch's Covered Bridge - NY 32-13-02 Saturday - July 20, 2002. The tents are ordered, the reception is planned, the speakers have responded and sunshine has been requested, all in preparation for the "Second Cutting" celebration of the rehabilitated Fitch's Covered Bridge. The Town of Delhi, along with a busy Covered Bridge Committee are finalizing plans for this historic event. Although there is still much to be done, here are some highlights of the program.
       The ceremony will begin at the bridge at 10 am with several guest speakers. Please note: The bridge will be closed to traffic from 8 am to12 noon. Parking will only be available on County Route 18 during the event. A short parade to the Delaware County Historical Association will follow where there will be music, light refreshments, a display of Delaware County's Covered Bridges and experts to answer questions about the history of the Fitch's Covered Bridge. Following the celebration, please join the residents of Delhi for Delhi Community Days where you will find plenty of food vendors and activities taking place throughout the day.
       Both festivities promise to be exciting events for all covered bridges enthusiasts.

Chenango County:

Plans for The River Walk Project, which includes the construction of a Burr truss Covered Bridge in Oxford, NY continues. Committee members recently met with Phil Pierce, PE who suggested several options regarding the site. Estimated length of the bridge will be190 feet. Phil will be submitting cost estimates to the committee which will allow them to begin the search for appropriate funding for the engineering studies. If all goes well, Chenango County will once again host a covered bridge. Exciting news!

Delaware County:

Delaware County is at it again! Not only are they dedicated to preserving the covered bridges they have, but they hope to build a new covered bridge in Halcottsville, NY! The proposed site is where the previous covered bridge once stood. However, there is much to do to accomplish this. County officials have requested Right-of-Way maps that will allow for an appraisal from an outside expert. Once received, negotiations with the landowners can begin. It is hoped that negotiations can be concluded to the satisfaction of all parties and the design process completed to allow construction in 2003. In the meantime, the county has hired a computer simulation specialist to provide technical assistance to the DPW design team, who claims the design to be for one of the heavier loads considered on a covered bridge (30 ton vehicles).

Other news:

DeLorme Atlas Project -- A very special thanks to Sandy Adrion of Pine Hill, NJ for volunteering to send us the necessary information on the last covered bridge (Green Sergeants) needed to complete this project.

New York State Driving Tour -- Our first meeting to get this project off and running is now history. We have tentatively determined what we feel is the best possible route to take from one covered bridge to the next, without doing a lot of back tracking. (This is not as easy as it may sound, folks!) Precise directions are now being plotted. If anyone would like to volunteer to take the tour, and provide us with important feedback, we certainly would welcome your assistance. (Do we need to add how much fun it could be?) If you are interested in taking a wonderful tour of New York's Covered Bridges, give us a call at 607-674-9656, or email us at: bobtrish68@clarityconnect.com. Thanks to all of you for your wonderful support and words of encouragement as we begin yet another covered bridge endeavor.