From Staff Reports
The Montgomery Herald
NEW RIVER GORGE —
The Fayette County Chamber announced last week that BB&T will be the official vendor sponsor for the Oct. 16 event, and the work of a Beckley artist has been chosen to represent the state’s largest one-day festival.
With more than 150 vendors at the event, those in attendance are greeted with a variety of food, fare and memorabilia as they wander onto the 3,030-foot-long structure that provides a breathtaking glimpse onto the Gorge. Travelers from all over the country attend Bridge Day to enjoy a celebration of West Virginia and to experience the excitement of colorful BASE parachutists leaping from the bridge.
Locally-managed BB&T has joined with the Fayette County Chamber and the Bridge Day organizing committee to sponsor the Bridge Day marketplace.
“BB&T’s support of our Bridge Day vendors is a wonderful addition to our event,” said Cindy Dragan, Bridge Day coordinator. “As a valuable member of the business community in Fayette County, we look forward to their presence at the event and support of the financial needs of the many vendors that participate in Bridge Day.”
Also, the work of artist Rebecca Peterson of Beckley was chosen to grace the commemorative 2010 Bridge Day poster, the sixth in the series.
A New York native, Peterson moved to West Virginia in 1995.
“Art is my constant,” she said. “Through education and work, I have continually been involved with art in one form or another. Paint on a canvas, beads on a string, pictures through a lens; art is never boring. A cloud in the sky, the arch of a bridge, the tiniest flower lost in the grass. The inspiration is endless. I have created art classes for children, photographed river riders, painted signs for businesses, designed brochures, billboards and T-shirts. As long as I am creating, I am happy.”
The official commemorative poster will be available beginning in July for $10 at the Fayette Chamber of Commerce visitor center off Route 19 at the Oyler Avenue exit in Oak Hill. Peterson also will autograph her posters on Bridge Day at the Fayette County Chamber of Commerce booth on the south side of the bridge.
For more information on Bridge Day and to learn how to participate in the event as a vendor, visit www.officialbridgeday.com. All forms are available online. Questions can be answered and additional information provided by calling the Fayette County Chamber at 304-465-5617.
Bridge Day is held annually in Fayette County to celebrate the 1977 opening of what is now the second highest arch bridge in the world.
“This festival is all about living. Our setting — the New River Gorge — is one of the world’s oldest places, and BASE jumping is one of the world’s most cutting-edge sports. Above the world-famous whitewater rafting on the New River, jumpers, rappellers and thousands and thousands of onlookers gather for the state’s biggest party of the year,” Dragan stated in a press release.
