Event to remember Silver Bridge collapse

Not a Christmas season goes by that the city of Point Pleasant, W.Va., does not stop and shudder and remember.

On Saturday, Dec. 15, it will be the 45th anniversary of the Silver Bridge Disaster. The Point Pleasant River Museum has put together a 45th Anniversary Remembrance that is set to begin at 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 15, at the Point Pleasant River Museum, 28 Main St., Point Pleasant, W.Va.

The event is planned to honor the 46 people who lost their lives when the bridge collapsed Dec. 15, 1967.

The program will begin with a welcome by director Jack Fowler followed by a song by Denise Bonecutter. The Rev. Roger Bonecutter, who piloted a City Ice and Fuel boat after the bridge collapse, will give the invocation and also speak. Retired Trooper Rudy O'Dell, who was the first law enforcement officer to the scene on the West Virginia side, will be introduced and answer questions after the program.

Also attending will be Jim Naegal, who was in the Coast Guard at the time and worked on the Oleander boat during the recovery.

Professor Stephan Bullard and Bridget Gromek of West Hartford, Conn., and Martha and Ruth Fout of the Point Pleasant River Museum, co-authors of "The Silver Bridge Disaster of 1967," will discuss their new book.

Mayor Brian Billings and Alice Williamson Click will read the names of the victims, and a candle will be lit in memory of each person as a Powerpoint presentation will show their picture.

Admission to the museum on Dec. 15 will be free. Refreshments will be served after the remembrance.

Go online at www.pprivermuseum.com.