Bridge Day Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Children’s Health And Education, This West Virginia Week

On this West Virginia Week, October interim meetings of the West Virginia Legislature kicked off in Charleston. Children’s health and education continue to be in the spotlight with state leaders discussing everything from school discipline to childhood literacy. And, more on the conditions inside West Virginia jails and prisons.

On this West Virginia Week, October interim meetings of the West Virginia Legislature kicked off in Charleston. Children’s health and education continue to be in the spotlight with state leaders discussing everything from school discipline to childhood literacy. And we have more on the conditions inside West Virginia jails and prisons.

Also, thrill seekers from across the world are gathering at the New River Gorge Bridge in Fayetteville for the annual Bridge Day event this weekend.

And we hear how the end of pandemic-era benefits will affect child care costs and quality, the Black Infant and Maternal Health Working Group’s breakfast with lawmakers and a story about a practicing Appalachian witch.

Emily Rice is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert.

West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week’s biggest news in the Mountain State. It’s produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Caroline MacGregor, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Liz McCormick, and Randy Yohe.

Learn more about West Virginia Week.

43rd Annual Bridge Day Takes Place This Weekend

Route-19 crossing the New River Gorge Bridge will be closed Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. for West Virginia’s largest annual single day festival.

The New River Gorge National Park celebrates its 43rd annual Bridge Day event Saturday, Oct. 21.

Route-19 crossing the New River Gorge Bridge will be closed Saturday from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. for West Virginia’s largest annual single day festival.

Organizer Tim Naylor said thousands of spectators will be able to walk across the bridge and watch BASE jumpers take flight from the bridge.

“This is the only day it is legal to base jump at a national park. It’s also probably the premier BASE jumping event in the country, if not the world. So this is really unique,” Naylor said. “Plus, we’re talking peak colors of the fall, so you know, just being able to walk out into the middle of the bridge and really take in the beauty of the gorge.”

With 160 different food and beverage vendors, Naylor said there will be options for everyone.

“Asian restaurant food trucks to barbecue food trucks to Kettle Corn – which is always a big plus. Turkey legs and chicken on a stick and a little bit of everything. So there’s not gonna be any shortage of food options,” said Naylor.

Attendees can bring in a bag smaller than five by seven inches, anything larger needs to be a clear bag.

Parking lots are free, but the shuttle bus to the event is $5 cash only, per person, each way. There will be two handicap accessible shuttle buses, one at the New River Health parking lot and one at the Midland Trail High School.

Bridge Day Returns This Saturday In Fayetteville

This weekend marks a return of the unique Bridge Day event following a two year hiatus due to COVID-19. It is also the first time the event is being held since the designation of the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve.

While “Into the Gorge” tickets have sold out, the event promises to entertain as base jumpers and rappelers from all over the world leap 800 feet from the bridge into the New River Gorge.

About 200 vendors will showcase their wares on the road approaching the bridge.

To accommodate jumpers, U.S. Route 19 will be closed to traffic from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

On Friday night, “Taste of Bridge Day” will be held at Adventures on the Gorge.

Bridge Day starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m.

A Chili Cookoff is planned in downtown Fayetteville immediately after the Bridge Day event which starts at 9 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m.

Bridge Day Canceled For Second Straight Year

Bridge Day has been canceled for the second year in a row. The Bridge Day Commission voted unanimously Wednesday to cancel the event for 2021, according to media reports.

Earlier in the day, the Fayette County Commission announced in a statement that it would vote to cancel the event this year, citing a small group of individuals who acted to influence the coordinators of the BASE jumping to cancel the group’s participation.

Just last week, the BASE jumper coordinators, Mark Kissner and Marcus Ellison, notified the Bridge Day Commission in a letter that they would not be participating this year. They outlined concerns from local citizens and also their own safety when it comes to access to the hospitals in the event of an emergency due to overcrowding with COVID patients.

The county commission disputed those points in its statement, saying “it is not” because COVID numbers were getting worse, or safety concerns or that local hospitals urged the county commission or the Bridge Day commission to cancel, “because they did not.”

They said they were voting to cancel because, without the participation of the BASE jumpers, Bridge Day would not be the same. The statement went on to say that the Fayette County Commission would “act promptly to implement changes to the Bridge Day Commission Bylaws and take all necessary action to ensure in the future no individual or small group has the power to unilaterally influence a decision that affects not just Fayette County, but also Bridge Day attendees and participants, neighboring counties, the State of West Virginia and the National Park Service.”

On Sept. 15, the Bridge Day commission voted 4-2 to move forward with Bridge Day despite protests from the EMS and health care community.

Those groups questioned the logic of holding Bridge Day, even with masking requirements. Their concerns included that hospitals are nearing capacity in the county, and any outbreak or injury during the Bridge Day event could overwhelm the system.

Just 10 days prior to that vote, the town of Oak Hill, also in Fayette County, canceled the last day of the Oak Leaf Festival. Several workers and volunteers tested positive for COVID-19 at the earlier festival.

Bridge Day is a major tourist attraction for the region. It brings as many as 100,000 people to walk the bridge and watch the jumpers each fall.

Organizers said they will begin planning for 2022.

BASE Jumping Canceled At Bridge Day

The primary attraction for Bridge Day has been canceled for 2021.

The BASE Jumping Coordinator for Bridge Day made the decision to cancel jumping from Bridge Day this year at a meeting of the Bridge Day Commission Wednesday according to media reports.

Jumpers who have already signed up for the event will be notified.

The commission also says it will, once again, consider cancelling the event altogether. That vote will happen on September 29.

Just last week, the Bridge Day Commission voted 4 to 2 to hold Bridge Day as scheduled over the protests of the local medical community. The concerns included that hospitals are nearing capacity in the county, and any outbreak or injury during the Bridge Day event could overwhelm the system.

Bridge Day normally attracts up to 100,000 visitors to the county.

Bridge Day is scheduled for Oct. 16.

Bridge Day Moves Forward For October

Bridge Day in West Virginia — an event that draws tens of thousands of people — will move forward as planned, despite the ongoing pandemic.

The Bridge Day Commission voted Wednesday to still hold the Fayetteville event.

The vote comes 10 days after the town of Oak Hill, also in Fayette County, canceled the last day of the Oak Leaf Festival. Several workers and volunteers tested positive for COVID-19 at the earlier festival.

Bridge Day is expected to bring up to 100,000 visitors to the county.

Members of the EMS and healthcare community questioned the logic of holding Bridge Day, even with masking requirements. Their concerns included that hospitals are nearing capacity in the county, and any outbreak or injury during the Bridge Day event could overwhelm the system.

Earlier Wednesday, Gov. Jim Justice expressed his support for Bridge Day during his regular covid briefing. Just before the vote was taken, an unidentified member of the Bridge Day Commission could be heard confirming the governor’s stance.

The vote by the commission was 4-2 in favor of having the event.

Bridge Day is scheduled for Oct. 16.