David Topham, Treasurer, Nov thru April only: 11707 Oakmont Ct., Fort Myers, FL 33908-2825 (941) 433-1551;
May thru Oct: 45 Village Way No. 50, Rockport, ME 04856-3805, 207-596-7472

Sunday, April 27 at 1 p.m. Meeting will be held at the Plymouth Church, Framingham, MA..

Sunday, May 18 at 1 p.m. Executive Board Meeting will be held at the home of Joe and Marianne Cohen. (Click for directions)
This meeting is open to the general membership also.

Sunday, June To be announced.

Dear Fellow Members,

Though I have tried to swear off to some extent at least commenting on the weather here in Westminster at the beginning of each of my quarterly diatribes, I nevertheless feel compelled this time to mention the unusually cold temperatures during most of January, February, and so far, March.

(The present President's Message is being drafted on March 11th)

Not only have there been many days when the thermometer has fallen to below zero, but often these days have come all together in a bunch, so to speak. For example, starting on January 14th here is a list of the morning minimum temperatures till the end of the month:

Of course, most of us in this region have become a little bit spoiled of late years.

Why do I say this?

For a quite simple reason: because recently, winters here have tended to be fairly mild, hence many of us have nearly forgotten what "Jack Frost" can hold in store for us, given the right circumstances. Those who had planned for yet another season similar to that say of 2001-2002 have suffered a rude shock this time around. To cite but a single instance, many people in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, pre-buy their heating oil. As a general rule, someone pre-buying fuel oil tries not to purchase much more of it than what he expects to use during the course of an on-coming heating season. Well, this winter, many folks have already exhausted their allotment of pre-bought fuel, and are consequently now being obliged to purchase heating oil at its current astronomically high price.

In this context, it is interesting to note that a few years back, some wag gave voice to the view that nature is in fact the severest of all teachers. According to this notion, when nature is in charge of one's education, first one submits to an "examination", then, but only then, and only should one prove oneself skillful enough to survive the "trial", does one get the lesson!

As New Englanders are well known both for their perspicacity and resourcefulness, I rather imagine that much additional pre-bought fuel oil shall be being purchased by the folks up here next summer.

What do all of you think?

Speaking of next summer, which action implies the passage of time, obviously, I find it hard to believe that it is once again the season to "re-up" in the Society. For me, it seems but a few short weeks ago that I coughed up my 15 bucks for yet another 12 months of National-Society membership. How tricky memory can be!! And how much faster time seems to pass as one grows older. (Egad! I never thought the day would come when I should be obliged to say something like that!!!) In any case, for good or for ill, our dues are once again due, and, as in years past, I entreat each and every one of you to continue to support our Covered Bridges, these great National Treasures, by maintaining your membership in the National Society. There is indeed much strength to be had in numbers. At the same time, I would ask all of you to contribute as generously as possible to the Eastman - Thomas Fund for Covered Bridge Preservation. Please remember that every dollar donated to this fund will be spent again and again, for it is only the interest earned from monies given for Preservation which is used to support Covered-Bridge Restoration Projects.

Thanks to the past generosity of members, the Society is now in a position to begin making fairly significant grants. The first of these, already awarded and soon to be expended, will enable the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources to restore partially, as well as to stabilize, the Contoocook Covered Railroad Bridge in Hopkinton, New Hampshire, which project has been discussed fairly fully in several previous President's Messages.

(Briefly, for those of you who may have just joined the Society, the Contoocook Covered Railroad Bridge is an extremely important structure. As some of you will already know, there are now but seven Covered Railroad Bridges remaining in the world. Curiously enough, all of these are to be found within the confines of the United States, New Hampshire being the State with the greatest concentration of them (5). The Contoocook Covered Railroad Bridge is the oldest survivor of this vanishing race, whose numbers once counted in the hundreds, perhaps even thousands. It was built in 1889 by the Boston and Maine Railroad, which means that one of the great engineers of the nineteenth century, Jonathan Parker Snow, most likely had a hand in its construction. (Please see the accompanying issue of Topics, page 6, for additional information regarding J. P. Snow.) Miraculously, this structure, despite great abuse after it ceased to be used as a railroad crossing, has come down to us essentially intact. Properly stabilized and maintained thereafter, it ought to remain in place for the foreseeable future. Since both the National Society and the New Hampshire Division of Historical Resources are in complete agreement as to how to preserve the Contoocook Covered Railroad Bridge, it would be difficult to imagine a happier or more fruitful collaboration than the present one, nor a more appropriate project for the Society to finance with its still somewhat limited Preservation Monies. Very likely, therefore, the present joint effort shall be but the first of several such.)

Once again. I want to stress the importance of all of you maintaining your memberships in the Society, and of donating as much as possible to the Eastman - Thomas Fund for Covered-Bridge Preservation. Though with each day that passes, more and more people are becoming interested in Historical Preservation, which fact ought to auger well for our Covered Bridges, nevertheless, these structures are by no means out of danger, not by a long shot! There are of course always the twin risks of fire and flood, but mostly, these days, the greatest threat to our Nation's Covered Spans is "demolition" through redesign.

Your Society is constitutionally opposed to any such proceedings, and so, the more of us that there are, and the more funds we have at our disposal in order to encourage the right kind of preservation, the fewer spans shall fall to the usually not too terribly tender mercies of the typical department-of-transportation engineer.

(You have all heard the phrase "Sic transit gloria pontis", I am sure!!)

Once again, or rather for the third time, please all of you renew your memberships in the Society, and give as generously as you can to the Eastman -Thomas Fund.

Now, to change the subject somewhat, in the Fall President's Message, I spoke to you about two bridges, the Bath-Haverhill Covered Bridge, in the towns of Bath and Haverhill, New Hampshire, and the Gilbertville Covered Bridge in Ware and Hardwick, Massachusetts.

The news respecting the latter seems to be good - Mass Highways have , believe it or not, expressed a willingness to consider an all wood historically accurate repair to this structure; whether they mean it or not, only time will tell - and respecting the former, neither good nor bad: it will still be a few weeks before the engineer we have hired to investigate the Bath Haverhill structure will be able to draft his report to us. The bottom line here? Stay tuned, as used to be said back in the days of the golden age of radio.

In the meantime, Happy Bridging!!!!

Sincerely, your President,

David W. Wright

P. S.: Word has just reached me of the death of one of our long time members, Mr. Kenneth E. Curran of Littleton, New Hampshire, a good friend to me, and a wonderful friend of the bridges. I first met Ken during the campaign, alas unsuccessful, to have the Cornish Covered Bridge properly restored. As soon as Ken saw that the restoration scheme, which had been carefully worked out for us by Milton Graton, whom, incidentally, he, Ken had known for many years, had merit, he took me up to the Mount Cube Farm in Orford, New Hampshire, to meet his old friend, former New Hampshire Governor Meldrim Thomson. Not surprisingly, it did not take Mel Thomson very long to understand what was going on, and thereafter, he became one of the bridge's most prominent supporters. At the time, former Governor Thomson was writing two or three columns a week for the Manchester, New Hampshire, Union Leader. His columns usually appeared on the front page of that journal. Governor Thomson was soon thundering away in favor of an historically accurate repair and reconstruction of the Cornish Covered Bridge. I only regret that I had not had the sense to have gone to see him several years earlier. The outcome for this great span might have been altogether different, had I but done so. In any case Ken Curran came to believe so much in what Milton Graton was advocating for the bridge in question that he proposed forming a consortium to take on this project, a consortium he was planning personally to finance. Alas, a majority of New Hampshire's Executive Council rejected this idea, and, in the time-honored phrase, the rest is history.

Ken Curran was a wonderful man, a man of extraordinary character, an independent man, a man of deep intelligence and sound judgment, a man of his word. He was as public spirited as he was industrious, having served his community in numerous ways, even representing Littleton for two years in the New Hampshire General Court. He ran a successful construction company, Curran-Lavoie, for many years, building scores of modern New Hampshire highway bridges. He was an important man in his state, in his town, and for his friends and family. He will be missed by literally legions of people and of course, most especially by me.

Your President, D.W.W.

Rensselaer/Washington Counties

Buskirk Covered Bridge -- NY 32-42-02/58-04 The Buskirk Covered Bridge remains closed in preparation for repairs. A routine annual inspection discovered a severe structural defect in the truss. The Rexleigh and Eagleville Covered Bridges, which were closed due to heavy snow, have now been reopened. Design work on rehabilitating the three Washington County covered bridges is nearly completed and the projects will be going out for bid soon so construction can begin in the spring.

Herkimer County

Salisbury Center Covered Bridge - NY 32-22-01 Peter Usselmann, Chairman of the Planning Board in Salisbury Center recently informed us that rehabilitation work on the bridge will begin in the spring and bids will be going out soon. Looks like a busy summer for the bridges in that area.

Tompkins County

Newfield Covered Bridge -- NY 32-55-01 Mark your calendars for July 26, 2003 when the Newfield Covered Bridge will be celebrating its 150 Birthday Celebration. More information will follow in future articles.

Other News

New York State Driving Tour -- Do you have any idea how many routes you can take to visit our covered bridges? As we progress with this project, we are learning there are many! What's the best? Thanks to a weekend with our friend, and covered bridge expert, Richard Donovan, we hope we have come up with the best route. Unfortunately, there is no route that won't include some backtracking, but we have tried to keep that to a minimum. We would like to thank all the wonderful folks who have called or emailed with their support and volunteered to take the 'test drive' for us. We should have a rough draft to you soon.

Ohio -- The Teegarden/Centennial Covered Bridge, OH 35-15-05 suffered minor damage following an arson attack on February 23. This lovely bridge was moved back to its original location in November of 2002 after a $300,000 rehabilitation using federal and state funds, plus $50,000 from Columbiana County. Fortunately, the bridge was coated with three coats of fire retardant which are believed to have helped keep the damage to a minimum. Columbiana County was home to three historic covered bridges between 1988 and 1992 all lost by fire. One was rebuilt, and the others are gone forever.

Covered Bridge Society of Virginia -- The first planning meeting to organize the Virginia Covered Bridge Society was held on February 19, 2003. We can always use another Covered Bridge Society to help with preservation efforts. They are also in the process of designing a web page http://hometown.aol.com/vabridgelady/myhomepage/index.html). If you have any suggestions or would just like to offer your support, contact Leola B. Pierce, 757-484-4404 or email her at VaBridgeLady@aol.com

Oregon Covered Bridge Society -- Thanks to Bill Cockrell for informing us about a new CD that has been produced by the Oregon Department of Transportation: A Guide to Oregon Covered Bridges. Bill worked with the Department of Transportation on producing this CD and it is fabulous. The photos, maps, directions and information are excellent. And best of all, it's free! For more information, contact: bridge@odot.state.or.us or write: Oregon DOT, Bridge Engineering Section, 355 Capitol Street, Room 301, Salem, OR 97301- 3871.

Bedford County, PA -- For those of you who may not have heard, three men, Luke Bartholow, 19 of Schellsburg, PA and Edwin Sanders, 19 and Shawn LeFever, 17 both from Lancaster, PA, were arrested for setting fire to the Ryot Covered Bridge PA 38-05-17. Luke Bartholow pleaded guilty to arson and will testify against Edwin Sanders who is jailed awaiting trial this spring. Shawn LeFever was sent to a rehabilitation facility after he acknowledged his role during a juvenile court hearing in December. He was also sentenced to pay one-third of the $300,000 it will cost to rebuild the bridge and perform 200 hours of community service in helping rebuild it. LeFever has agreed to testify against Sanders who has said he is innocent. Bedford County Commissioners have decided to rebuild the 75-foot-long bridge using the county's share of state liquid fuels money.

Amazingly enough, almost all of the suggested punishments we received from folks were focused around sharing in the cost of the rebuilding of the bridge, community service and assisting in locating funding to rebuild the bridge. All excellent ideas! Thanks to all of you for sending in your suggestions. The next time this happens, please don't hesitate to call or write county officials suggesting these punishments.

Another Covered Bridge Endeavor - As active Bridgers, we are often asked if a comprehensive list of all covered bridges that ever existed has ever been compiled. To our knowledge, there isn't one, but individual covered bridge or historical societies may have one for their state or area. Special thanks to Richard Donovan and Richard Roy for providing us with a great beginning to this project (over 800 lost bridges). We would like to take it one step further and add as many others as we can to this list. If you would like to provide information on covered bridges that no longer exist from your state, or adopt a state to work on, we would certainly welcome your assistance. We have designed a form that will assist you in your research and also indicate the type of information we would like to record on each bridge. Seem overwhelming? We thought so too at first, but once we got started, it really isn't difficult at all and we have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from the research. What has been really interesting is to see just how we lost these bridges. Most have been lost to arson, flood, wind, snow, and collapse . . .but not necessarily in that order. Surprised? We were too. It is truly amazing, and once completed, this listing will be a tremendous wealth of historical information. For more information, feel free to email us at: bobtrish68@clarityconnect.com.

Mail Pouch Tobacco Barns-- As Covered Bridge Enthusiasts travel across the country in their quest for covered bridges, the will often become interested in other unique things . . . Round Barns, Outhouses, Octagon Barns, Windmills, Lighthouses, etc. It is almost inevitable. One thing that has caught our attention is the Mail Pouch Tobacco Barns. Much like our covered bridges they are disappearing fast. If you would like to learn more about these unique structures, visit this great web site: www: mail-pouch.org A group, Mail Pouch Barnstormers, has recently been formed to help bring awareness to this wonderful part of Americana.