Latest news with #BridgeDay
Yahoo
18-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bridge Day planning gathers steam
The inexorable march to Bridge Day 2025 continues. This year's Bridge Day is scheduled in Fayette County on Saturday, Oct. 18. While a variety of behind-the-scenes preparations has been ongoing since late last fall to clear the launch for the 2025 event, the first meeting of the Bridge Day Commission (BDC) for 2025 will be held on Wednesday, March 19 at 1:30 p.m. at Fayetteville Town Hall. The commission is mandated by the West Virginia Legislature to supervise the activities of the annual festival. The Wednesday agenda will feature a review of old business left over from the 2024 event. New business will include: • A review of the Bridge Day Commission, both voting and non-voting positions; • A review and decision on BDC representatives, both appointed and advisory terms. That includes West Virginia Division of Highways, West Virginia State Police, rappel advisory, National Park Service advisory, BASE advisory, vendor/community advisory and emergency services advisory; • Report from BDC representatives: a. Fayette County Chamber of Commerce; b. WV DOH; c. Fayette County Commission; d. WVSP; e. Fayette County Sheriff; f. Town of Fayetteville; g. Advisory representatives — rappel, NPS, BASE, vendor, emergency services an regional tourism; and • Setting the 2025 meeting calendar. To join the meeting via Zoom, visit Meeting ID is 815 3093 3528. Passcode is 784983. Bridge Day is an official trademark of the Bridge Day Commission. • • • If you've always wanted to ride down into the New River Gorge to watch Bridge Day unfold and have been too late in recent years to snag a ticket for the Into the Gorge shuttles, you're not too late this year. Annually, motoring traffic into the gorge to the Fayette Station rapids at the bottom on that day is limited to event or emergency vehicles. That officially leaves biking or pedestrian traffic as the other options to watch the BASE jumpers and rappellers from down below, except for those who plan ahead and pay to take the shuttle. So, don't tarry if you want to secure a seat on one of the shuttle buses on Oct. 18. As of March 17, 177 of the 500 available Into the Gorge tickets had been sold, according to Tim Naylor, executive assistant for the New River Gorge CVB/Fayette County Chamber of Commerce. 'Those will sell out,' Naylor stressed. The current cost per ticket is $40, which will go up to $50 after July 1. Bridge Day vendor spots are going even faster than shuttle tickets, according to Naylor. Annually, companies and organizations offer a variety of merchandise and information to members of the public visiting the bridge. A 'handful' of vendor positions for 2025 remain, said Naylor. 'They've gone a lot quicker than they have in the past.' Naylor reiterates rules from the Fire Marshal's Office that any source of open flame or generated heat has to be located at least 15 feet away from anything else at the vendor booth. For Fayette County Chamber of Commerce members, vendor booth fees are $125 plus a $15 application fee. For non-members, the fee is $225 plus the non-refundable $15 application fee. Those prices will rise after July 1, if spots are still available. Sponsorship opportunities for the 2025 event also still exist. The annual Bridge Day poster contest, a popular feature of the event, will kick off in mid-spring. It is sponsored by Lost Appalachian Trading Company, with a cash prize. For more information on Bridge Day or its various tentacles, call 1-304-465-5617 or 1-800-927-0263 or visit Email: skeenan@ follow on Facebook
Yahoo
09-02-2025
- Yahoo
Friends and family gather to celebrate the life of Bridge Walk co-founder Benjy Simpson
LANSING, WV (WVNS) – Benjy Simpson Jr., the co-founder of Bridge Walk passed away recently, leaving behind a life full of adventure and fun. All-female rappel team to make Bridge Day history Simpson passed away on January 25, 2025. Simpson was a man of many talents and hobbies, but one thing that many people know him from is his dealings with Bridge Walk. Simpson was one of the co-founders of this activity that has attracted people from all fifty states and 80 different countries. Simpson's love for the outdoors was contagious to say the least. Contagious enough that he spread that love to his son, Benjy Simpson III. 'Dad loved the outdoors. He loved teaching people, and he had a very interesting job where it wasn't sitting in an office. It was traveling to trade shows and different schools, putting up zip lines, and climbing walls. When he was in season, he would be taking people down the river. So, I got to stay at the campgrounds. I got to work behind the scenes and hand out wetsuits and stuff,' said Simpson III. What many do not know about Benjy Simpson Jr. is his back story. Not only did he play college basketball and tennis at North Carolina State University, but he also served in the US Army. Why do people hike in the winter? Simpson had a passion for reaching out to the youth of the community, starting with his creation of a program called Encounter 4. This continued when he moved to West Virginia in 1984 to start Passages to Adventure. This program combined whitewater rafting, climbing, and youth outreach. In 1994, Simpson burst onto the scene at Bridge Day, which later led to the opening of Bridge Walk in 2009. 'People come up and talk about the doors that he has opened for them or they have taken his message and continued on with it. That means a lot,' added Simpson III. Benjy Simpson III told 59News one thing that he hopes many can learn from his father. 'One thing that frustrates me the most is – he was very optimistic, overly so. Like things would always work out. I went to school…I became an industry engineer, and I like to have like plans. [I would] be like, 'It is probably not going to work out probably right?' He would have all these different plans. He was like, 'We are going to make this work.' He would get people to do the High Line, he would get people to go out on the Bridge Walk, and we would be like, 'Oh, for we don't have staff to do it today.' He [would be] like, 'We will figure it out.' 'Oh, come on, we are going to get you to get you out there.' Whenever he was in an opportunity that he could share something with someone, he was not out for the fame. He was not out for like money or glory or anything like that. It is just he wanted people to be involved. I think everyone could probably benefit from a little bit more optimism. Maybe with a little bit more backup plans, but he always made it work,' said Simpson III. Benjy Simpson III is starting a memorial fund in honor of his father. This fund will be used to focus on STEM programs for middle and high schoolers in West Virginia. He is raising these funds in conjunction with the West Virginia Division of Highways. From the WV mines to a Ph.D., Carter Woodson strove to preserve black history If you wish to send money or a check by mail, you can send it to: Benjy Simpson Memorial Fund (c/o DOH Bridge Design and Build Contest), Fayette County National Bank, PO Box 209, Fayetteville WV 25840 If you would like to send money through Venmo, you can send a note with 'Memorial' in the description to @Benjy-Simpson. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
