The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 9, 2003 Page: 4 of 28
twenty eight pages : ill. ; page 17 x 11 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
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4
THURSDAY 9 OCTOBER 2003
THE CANADIAN RECORD
I
GEORGE BRIANT & JOHN McGARR
DAN CORNETT
A group of volunteers gathered on the Canadian River His-
toric Wagon Bridge to make needed repairs in antixipation
of Canadian's Annual Fall Foliage Tour on October 18th
and 19 th.
THE BRIDGE GANG
The Bridge of Hemphill County
By Seth Davidson
WHEN CANADIAN celebr-
ated the refurbishing and re-
opening of its historic wagon
bridge, few people had any idea
how popular the bridge would be-
come. Few knew that it would be-
come one of those quality of life
assets that people who live in
small towns constantly point out
to urban residents. Few people
could have guessed that mornings
and evenings the 1.2 mile round-
trip walk would attract so many
people.
And no one had a long-term
plan for maintaining the bridge.
Foot traffic admittedly does
less damage to the surface of a
wooden bridge than a semi-trac-
tor trailer. But the combination of
rotten planks, rain, heat, snow,
and just plain old time have meant
that in order to keep the bridge
healthy and safe, it requires
maintenance.
Fortunately, there are things
in life that can be done without the
assistance of a major federal aid
program, particularly when over-
seen by the likes of Jay Godwin,
who organized the plank replace-
ment operation.
On Wednesday morning Jay,
John Hughes, Denny McClann-
ahan, Bob Rogers, Brad Simpson,
Trey Webb, Jason Hubbard,
Erbin Crowell, Steve Rader, Rob-
ert Ezzell, Ronnie Barney, Dan
Cornett, John Julian, George
Briant, and John McGarr, began
the repair work that would even-
tually replace sixty rotten or dam-
aged planks.
The crew set up an assembly
line operation, where one group
loosened the screws that hold the
planks onto the frame of the
bridge, then removed the end
bolts that attached the planks to
the steel side railings. Next, a sep-
arate crew prized away the old
plank and laid down a new one in
its place. After positioning the
new plank, the crew screwed in
the plank and bolted down the
ends, and then moved on to the
next one. It was a symphony of
power tools, crowbars, hammers,
and air compressors. Okay, well,
maybe not a symphony. B ut it sure
got the job done.
Enjoy your next walk on Cana-
dian's wagon bridge, take note of
the shiny new planks that appear
at regular intervals—thanks to
the locals who donated their time,
money, tools, expertise, and com-
munity concern in order to make
it happen.
5
11**111
STEVE RADER
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Brown, Laurie Ezzell. The Canadian Record (Canadian, Tex.), Vol. 113, No. 41, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 9, 2003, newspaper, October 9, 2003; Canadian, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth220599/m1/4/: accessed April 30, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Hemphill County Library.