Take a seat to honor, connect Sunset Beach history

The Old Bridge Preservation Society can’t just sit on history, but everyone’s welcome to take their turn in a seat after a ceremony at 4 p.m. Thursday.

The group will dedicate the Sunset Beach Bridge Tender Bench, to honor all of the bridge tenders who operated the former Sunset Beach pontoon swing bridge. After 52 years of connecting the coast with the island, the ferrying structure was retired in 2010 for the Mannon C. Gore Bridge, a concrete high-rise. Overlooking that site, the bench is set on the grounds of Twin Lakes Restaurant, 102 Sunset Blvd. N., along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, as a spot for people to stop, rest, and take in life and reflect.

The Old Bridge Museum, nearby at 109 Shoreline Drive W. – with the old swing bridge and tender house – is open this summer, 5-8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesdays, with variety of weekly programs, June 28-Aug. 11: “Life Along The Coast” on Tuesday evenings; “Young Explorers,” for ages 5-13, 10:30 a.m.-noon Wednesdays; and “Family Fun Night,” 6 p.m. Thursdays, all for free.

Carolyn Hirst-Loucks, a volunteer from the Old Bridge group’s executive and education committees who also helps with publicity and in the museum, store, and seasonal events, spoke about the bench marking another step in keeping history alive for generations to come. That’s in addition to the school classes, homeschoolers, and scout troops that make field trips to the museum.

Question | What planning went into finding another special way to memorialize the Old Bridge?

Answer | As part of our firth anniversary celebration of the Old Bridge being moved to its permanent location, we brainstormed early in the year, about something we could do to celebrate and have community involvement ... so we got the bench, which was handcrafted by Gerry Strickland, a volunteer and member of the Old Bridge Preservation Society board of directors.

Q. | How many Old Bridge tenders might be on hand for the dedication on Thursday?

A. | Tom Hewett is the oldest bridge tender, and Roger McPherson, so we hope they’ll be there. ... We’re hoping for a nice little crowd to help celebrate, then afterward, we’ll have an informal gathering at Twin Lakes Restaurant, plus the Old Bridge Museum is open that night.

Q. | How vital has keeping this identity and symbol of Sunset Beach alive been?

A. | A great thing is so many people’s memories are tied up in the Old Bridge just because of what it meant. You couldn’t go fast. It was a link from the mainland to the island. It was a chance to say, you have to stop, slow down, and you could set your schedule by the bridge. It opened on the hour. It was a connection for many busy people who were vacationing there, and that was their chance to take a deep breath, de-stress, and say, “This is good.”

Q. | What new role has the Old Bridge taken to let people ride down memory lane, and give younger individuals a taste of history?

A. | When it was decommissioned, and the new, concrete bridge put in place, to not have these families experience crossing the Old Bridge would have been a loss to the community. An interesting thing is we’re getting a lot of visitors who never experienced the Old Bridge when it was in place; now that get a feel for what it might have been like. Our mission is to bridge the past with the future. ... We have a control board hooked up, so kids can press the siren ... and make a big impression.

Q. | Whether for Easter, Independence Day, Halloween or Christmas, how special is the Old Bridge Museum whipping up special events every season?

A. | We believe in was our in our mission also to give back to the community, a way to center the community in the Old Bridge. We really have had a tremendous turnout from the community and from our visitors. For our annual “Fourth of July Celebration,” we get a lot of locals, grandparents and extended family who now have made that a part of their annual vacation if they’re in town, and at Christmastime, we have more locals. ... It all really kind of brings the community together.

Q. | How has mileage has been gained since release last year of “The Heartbeat of Sunset Beach,” the Old Bridge documentary by a theater arts class at Massey Hill Classical High School in Fayetteville, and the public screenings as museum fundraisers?

A. | DVD copies are for sale, for $10. We promote it for our visitors. It’s kind of interesting, the reactions from people when we talk about it. One woman said, “I certainly want to support anything that young people do.” That is a nice, different reason to purchase it and watch it.

Q. | When you first saw that 45-minute film, in what ways were you moved, especially since the Old Bridge Museum was founded?

A. | When we moved here, we had vacationed here for a very long time. ... To think it might have been gone, and how it might have been a huge loss. It’s great seeing how it’s evolved. ... to have people walk and rides bikes across it, to be able to go upstairs and sit in a desk, in an office re-created where the tenders worked.

This story was originally published June 20, 2016 at 5:00 AM with the headline "Take a seat to honor, connect Sunset Beach history."