Groundbreaking ceremony

The groundbreaking ceremony was help on Jan. 12, 2006. It was a beautiful day with blue sky and temps. in the 50s. The first photo shows the Construction Committee holding up a model of a covered bridge. It was decided to do this instead of shovels. There are more people on the team than could hold onto the bridge so several are out of view of the camera.The second photo is Jim Meece. He is a county commissioner and is very involved in the project. I believe his title in the Construction Team is Spokesperson.. He did the speech and introductions of the Construction Committee. They Bart Barnes, Treasurer, Bridgeton Covered Bridge Association. Larry Myers, President, Parke County Inc. Randy Norman, Parke County Highway Superintendent. Mark Spelbring, Purdue Extension Service. Ben Hill, covered bridge construction expert (He built the model). Mike Cooper, Meyers Engineering and covered bridge expert. Steve Arnold, MMS A/E, architect. Chuck Ennis, MMS A/E, Engineer. Greg Sorrels, Property Manager Indiana Dept. of Natural Resources. Joel McCarty, Timber Framers Guild. Ron May, AECON Engineering. Dan Collom, Contractor, Timber Acquisition Team Leader. Jim Meece, Parke County Commissioner. And, me Mike Roe, President Bridgeton Covered Bridge Association and owner / Miller of Bridgeton Mill.

During the ceremony we received 3 more large donations. The Ft. Harrison Daughters of the American Revolution gave $1000.00, The Harrah’s Casinos gave $2000.00 and a local farmer gave $1000.00 and trees from his woods.

After the ceremony we had a meeting of the Construction Committee. It was decided to give the Go-Ahead to the loggers to start cutting trees. I volunteered (I Gotta stop doing that) to gather names of folks that want to donate labor for the project. We need experienced and not so experienced carpenters. We will need folks to lift, carry, paint, drive nails, clean up ….. etc. So, if you want to donate some time or know of someone …. let me know.

Tell your friends to check on our progress. And remember if anyone wants to donate $$$$$ they can go to rebuildthebridge.com

Mike Roe

Bridgeton Mill