Blog Archives

Future Fundraising - No 5K For 2021

4/22/2021

Welcome back! While in past weeks we’ve been sharing history, fundraisers, and updates on the progress of the repairs to the bridge, this week we’d like to share with you some updates on our plans to raise the necessary funds to keep our favorite bridge swinging.

Most of you are likely wondering about our annual 5K run and 2K walk fundraiser, since it’s something of the centerpiece of our annual fundraising efforts. Last year, we were forced to postpone the event and we ended up running a virtual 5K in September. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to host our annual 5K fundraiser, and we’ll be looking to other means of raising funds for the Swinging Bridge. To that end, we’ll be sending along postcards requesting donations to everyone on our mailing list! Each one will be adorned with a beautifully rendered image of the Swinging Bridge, and whether you signed up on our website or we have your address from a previous year’s 5K event, or if you’ve ever donated, if we have your address on file, you’ll receive a postcard! If you aren’t on our mailing list but you want to get one of these postcards, sign up for our mailing list here.

Anyone who donates $50 or more will also receive a free T-shirt as a thank you for your generous contribution! And of course we are still offering engravings on bricks set into the parks at either end of the bridge. A donation of $100 gets you a two-line engraving, and a $200 donation gets you three lines. To learn more about donating for engraved bricks, click here.

As for further plans, we’re going to be redesigning our website with a more mobile-friendly layout! As it happens, more people have been accessing this site via their phones as opposed to their computers, so we’ll be changing up the website to accommodate these supporters. In addition, we’ll be using Flipcause to make online donations easier, streamline keeping track of donations, facilitate error-free ordering of engraved bricks, and more easily provide the IRS notification of donation to individual donors.

Make sure to keep watching this space for updates and as always, we thank you for your generosity and support.

DONATE

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Bricks for the Bridge

4/15/2021

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We all support the Swinging Bridge in our own way. Some of us participate in the annual 5K events, some donate money, others volunteer their time to help run events or maintain the bridge. For those who want their assistance to come in a more permanent form, consider the engraved bricks.

Set into the parks of the Swinging Bridge, these bricks are engraved with the name chosen by the donor―A friend, family member, organization, or even a pet can be memorialized in an engraving seen by those who traverse the Swinging Bridge.

“Do you live in a neighborhood where people smile at one another, stop for a chat during a walk, or do kind deeds for no other reason but that they care? I do,” says Pat Maloney, who herself has donated to have a brick engraved.

“In each of our neighborhoods, I suspect there is one person or one family who brings us together. How do you show your gratitude for living in such a neighborhood and for honoring that one person or family who somehow unites us? Of course, they have everything and what do we really need anyway? Well, that gift came to me―a brick for the bridge! With thanks to the Swinging Bridge volunteers, there is now one brick on the Topsham side that honors a family who truly cares. Do stop by and see if you can find their brick and enjoy a walk across the river.”

If you’d like to donate to have an engraved brick at the Swinging Bridge, click here to download the donation form. Our next installation will be in the fall, and the deadline for brick donations is July 31st.

DONATE

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The Swinging Bridge Needs Your Vote!

4/15/2021

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April is National Volunteer Month! And as is well known, one of the most important parts of the machine that keeps the Swinging Bridge aloft are the many volunteers who donate their time to put up signs, staff our events, and do whatever else is needed to facilitate the funding, repair, and maintenance of our favorite footbridge!

In honor of volunteers across the state of Maine, the Atlantic Federal Credit Union is holding a vote to determine which volunteer organization will earn $1000. With your help, that could be Save Our Swinging Bridge.org!

Atlantic FCU is taking votes for which volunteer organization will be granted a prize of $1000, and you can cast your vote on their website! Simply visit them here, find the picture for Save Our Swinging Bridge.org, and click on it to cast your vote!

$1,000 can go quite a long way to helping the Swinging Bridge. It can buy a coat of paint for the towers, it can replace one-third of the planks on the span, or it can be used to pay in part for any number of larger expenses- engineering, inspection, or steelwork. On behalf of us here at SOSB and the volunteers who make it all happen, thank you for your vote and your continued support!

VISIT ATLANTIC FCU AND VOTE FOR SOSB.ORG

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Repairs, Rails, and Requests: The Future of the Swinging Bridge

4/1/2021

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Welcome back! If you remember, a few months ago we took you on a tour of bridge maintenance and what work needed to be done that your participation in our Virtual 5K helped us fund. This week, we're going to share with you the progress of those repairs and what needs to still be done!

To start, we're happy to report that repairs are coming along on schedule. Because of weather and temperature conditions, not all the necessary repairs could be completed during the winter. However, the winter repairs have been completed, and spring work is on the docket to start very soon. The winter repairs included, among other things:

Repairs to the broken weld on the northeast anchor bolt on the Topsham tower
Replacing 40 loose, soft, or degraded deck boards
Replacing broken lacing bars in the horizontal struts at the Brunswick tower
Ensuring eye bolt connections on all floor beams were tightened
Replacement of rails at the bottom of the Brunswick tower

These have been completed by CPM Constructors of Freeport and they will be painting soon. The town of Brunswick will be paying for the remaining work on the Brunswick tower, while SOSB will be paying for the rest of the bridge work.

New rail installed at the base of the Brunswick tower.

40 brand new deck boards now adorn the span of the bridge.

It appears that repairs will come under projected costs, but Nancy E Randolph, Treasurer of the Swinging Bridge cautioned, “The repair fund is drained to an uncomfortable level, knowing that there are always repairs and maintenance to be done on our beloved bridge.”

Again this year we won’t be able to schedule our annual benefit 5K event, following CDC guidelines, so we’re calling on everyone who loves the Swinging Bridge to show your support with any amount you can, to be added to the repair fund. We have a special gift for those who donate $50 or more, a T-shirt designed for those who showed support during the pandemic. As always, you can donate to have an engraved brick installed at the base of the bridge. For details on brick donation, click here.

The people of Topsham and Brunswick continue to love, use, and support this historic bridge. All donations large and small will keep our bridge swinging far into the future.

DONATE TO SUPPORT THE SWINGING BRIDGE

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Future Fundraising - No 5K For 2021

Bricks for the Bridge

The Swinging Bridge Needs Your Vote!

Repairs, Rails, and Requests: The Future of the Swinging Bridge

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