Labor Day Bridge Walk a Success
Despite a global pandemic and anticipated rain that did not materialize, the 10th Annual Three Rivers Bridge Walk was a success on par with previous years, organizers said. The Three Rivers Woman’s Club, which founded the event and sponsors and organizes it each year, provided volunteer staff at Scidmore Park and bridges around town for the event Monday morning.
Member Jenny Koski said, “we had a great turnout of 150 walkers, bikers, dogs, and kids, right about the same as the last several years, so all went very well.”
Woman’s Club members were on hand in the park to help register walkers, hand out free trail maps, bridge “passports,” and bottled water, and sell tee shirts. Additional volunteer “bridge tenders” waited along the various trail routes, handing out passport stickers for walkers to document their progress as they crossed each bridge. Volunteers also accepted donations to benefit a recent influx of cats and dogs under the care of St. Joseph County Animal Control and its partners.
Woman’s Club President Mary K. Todd said the walk was inspired 10 years ago by the Mackinac Bridge walk, which usually takes place on the same day, Labor Day, but did not take place this year. “Susie Warner and Sally Amadore decided driving to the Mackinac Bridge on a weekend when we had over 18 bridges” required an alternative, Todd said. Warner passed away and Amadore moved from the area, but TRWC made the event a tradition.
Some parts of the event were modified this year out of caution due to the ongoing pandemic. Although a bake sale is normally part of the event, Todd said it was cancelled this year as a precaution. “We could have done it, there wasn’t a rule against it,” she said. The bake sale will return next year.
Another club member, Leilani Ruesink, made matching face masks for all of the volunteers that coordinated with their blue tee shirts and the event’s theme coloring. Ruesink was also in charge of setting up bridges and spent Monday morning serving as bridge tender for the Fifth Street bridge over the Portage River.
Monday’s event ran from 9 a.m. to noon. By 10, Ruesink had been visited by 16 participants when another group of four, two couples, stopped by. Sandy and Steve Olson were joined by Lynne and Arlan Wendzel. “This is a tradition,” Sandy Olson said. “The four of us have been doing this for years.” The four were following the Portage Riverwalk trail. “We like this route for the views,” she said.
Marilyn Cheney was serving as a guide at the Portage Riverwalk entrance on Fifth Street. She said she was surprised by the weather. Forecasts had been calling for cool, wet weather, but as the event got underway, it was sunny and already into the high 70s. “I’m glad it didn’t rain,” Todd said. “In ten years, we’ve never been rained on. It’s been extremely hot some years, but never completely uncomfortable.”
Arrows placed on the sidewalk using different colored masking tape marked the routes of the various trails. The Portage Riverwalk, which the City of Three Rivers began developing a few years ago, is the newest trail. There is also the 4.6-mile Broadway-Hoffman trail and the 2.2-mile South Main Trail, both of which also cross all three of the city’s rivers. The 1.5-mile Memory Isle trail is the shortest. It crosses the Rocky and Portage Rivers and features the recently replaced Memory Isle foot bridge.
Participant numbers surprised some bridge tenders. Diane Foghino and Debra Abel tended the West Michigan Avenue bridge over the Rocky River in front of L.A.’s Coffee Café. “There have been quite a few so far,” Foghino said.
On East Michigan Avenue’s Portage River crossing, Terry Vanzoest served as bridge tender with her mother, Alice Pew, aged 92, who has tended the same bridge since the event’s founding. The two reported lighter traffic than usual shortly after 10. However, by 10:30, the event had picked up. “All of a sudden, it’s like we’re getting the rush hour traffic here,” Todd said.
Weenie King’s hot dog trailer was on hand to provide food to participants returning to the park from the trails. “It’s been busy,” owner Mike King said. “I’m enjoying it.” King said he was glad to be at the Bridge Walk in light of other event cancellations from the pandemic. “There was no HarmonyFest this year, but I was able to set up this weekend at Rainbow Farms,” he said. “Everything’s a little different this year.” King said he has been at every Bridge Walk but the very first two. He said, “(Todd) got a hold of me, and I’ve been here ever since.”
Many of the people helping with Monday’s event have been involved with it for a while. Ruesink, who has lived in Three Rivers since 1972, helped plan the event in its first years. “We started walking every Thursday to evaluate and choose routes. There were six of us,” she said. “It was really an eye opener to see how many bridges there are in Three Rivers.” Ruesink, who taught for a living and now has children and grandchildren in the area, said, “Three Rivers is a lovely, lovely community.”
Dave Vago is a writer and columnist for Watershed Voice. A Philadelphia native with roots in Three Rivers, Vago is a planning consultant to history and community development organizations and is the former Executive Director of the Three Rivers DDA/Main Street program.
