newyork.news 070515

Spanning New York State
Covered Bridge News

By Bob and Trish Kane

Mark Your Calendars! New York State is once again celebrating ... this time in Washington County, NY. Isn't it great! On August 4,2007, New Yorkers will once again be celebrating the rehabilitation of three of our Covered Bridges, the Rexleigh NY 32-58-03, Eagleville NY 32-58-01 and Buskirk NY 32-42-02/5804 bridges. Repairs on the Buskirk bridge were completed and the bridge reopened to traffic in April of 2005. Repair work on the Eagleville and Rexleigh bridges are scheduled to be completed this summer. There will be a dedication and celebration at all three bridges on Saturday, August 4th so be sure to plan to attend. For more information contact: Robbie McIntosh at 518-677-3151.

Beaverkill Covered Bridge - NY 32-53-02 - Exciting news! The Beaverkill Covered Bridge in Sullivan County, NY has finally been nominated for consideration for listing on the State and National Register of Historic Places! This has been an ongoing effort for some time. It will be considered for nomination at the next meeting of the NY State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. It is our sincere hope that the two remaining covered bridges in Sullivan County, the Van Tran Flat NY 32-53-0 and the Halls Mills NY 32-53-01 will soon follow.

Hall Creek Pony Truss. WGN 61-02-P11 Photo by Nicolas Lecomte December, 2006

Quebec, Canada - Gerald Arbour recently sent along an exciting find from Nicolas Lecomte from Beaucanton, Abitibi, Canada. Mr. Lecomete reported the existence of an unknown pony bridge in Quebec. The bridge is located on Hall Creek on an abandoned road north of Val-Paradis, hometown of the Pionniers Bridge -- 61-02-32. The World Guide number for this new bridge is 61-02-Pl1. Thanks to Mr. Lecomete for sharing this photo with us and to Gerald Arbour for sending this exciting news on to us.

Virginia - Thanks to Leola and Steve Pierce for sharing this exciting news. During an interview with Leola on Thursday, March 22,2007, in Charlottesville, Virginia, a VDOT representative told her that VDOT will soon be producing a documentary on Virginia's historic timber covered bridges. They hope to have it completed within the next couple of months. Details are still being worked out and Leola and Steve will keep us posted on the progress of this endeavor.

New Hampshire - There has been a lot of focus recently on the restoration of the Contoocook Covered Railroad Bridge in Hopkinton, NH and that is wonderful! The efforts by the National Society to preserve this fantastic historical structure by committing substantially fmancially to the rehabilitation of this historic structure are to be commended. But it's important to remember that there are many other covered bridge efforts going on across the country worthy of financial support by covered bridge societies as well. Please keep this in mind as you work with your society's budgets and do what ever you can to help support the preservation of all our covered bridges. Currently, the Newport (NH) Historical Society is raising funds for a $100,000, 20% grant match (grant is for $500,000) for fire suppression and repairs for the Pier Railroad Covered Bridge. If you can help, donations can be sent to The Pier Bridge Preservation Project, c/o Sugar River Savings Bank, PO Box 569, Newport, NH 03773. There are several fundraising events being planned and your support is needed. They also have many Pier Bridge items for sale. For more information on this project, or to learn how you can help, contact: Jacqueline Cote, Treasurer and Fundraising Chair at jcote@iglide.net or phone (603) 863-3105 for more details.

Calendar of Covered Bridge Events - Thanks to the efforts of Bill Caswell, Bob and Trish Kane, and the cooperation of covered bridge organizations across the country, there is now a calendar of all the known covered bridge events scheduled in 2007. It also includes meeting dates for the various covered bridge societies, membership dues dates and newsletter deadline dates for those who report news on our covered bridges. This list took some time and effort to compile and we hope you will find it a helpful tool as you plan your covered bridge activities this year. You can view this calendar by visiting the Covered Spans of Yesteryear website lostbridges.org or Joe Nelson's website at vermontbridges.com. We hope to be able compile this calendar on an annul basis each December for the following year. If you have an event you would like added to the calendar, please contact Trish Kane at: bobtrish68@frontiernet.net. Be sure to check the websites often for any last minute changes or additions as events do change.

News Clips - As part of our work with the Covered Spans of Yesteryear project, we have been gleaning old covered bridge newsletters for pertinent information on bridges that no longer exist. It is amazing what little tid-bits of information we have found as we read through them. Here is one we wanted to share with you. This was taken from the April 1969 issue of Ohio's Covered Bridge Chatter. The heading reads: My Drapes are Different than Your Drapes. The clip begins ... Says Dick Donovan, because Mom made them, and the picture he sent of an attractive bit of drapery proves he is right. The drapes were made by sewing 127 linen towels together. Calendars of covered bridges are used and no duplication of towels is apparent. Thanks for the picture Dick, and congratulations Mom. We had to smile when we read this, as we are sure many of you will as well. First, because if you ever visited the home of Richard Donovan, you will no doubt remember these drapes as he had them hanging in his living room. And secondly, we all know you never called Richard, Dick! If Richard were reading this right now ... we think he'd smile too.

Covered Bridge Websites Here are a few new/updated websites you might like to bookmark or add to your favorites:

http://archives.gnb.calExhibits/CoveredBridges/Default.aspx?L=FR - This website is really neat and features New Brunswick's Covered Bridges and lots of history!

www.indianacrossings.org - This is the new address for the Indiana Covered Bridge Society which will be a companion to their newsletter, which has been retitled Indiana Crossings.

Covered Bridges in China? Check this out - www.pbase.com/phiw/zhejiang

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