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- Written by Katie Weeber Katie Weeber
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Pulling Beauty from the Ashes
October 2009 issue
Mature Media Award: Silver Award
By Katie Weeber
Going through a covered bridge, it’s fun to image the horses and buggies or cars that have passed through since it was built. Groups have endeavored to preserve many of the covered bridges, even to the extent of moving them so they aren’t destroyed and their history lost.
Bill Longenecker recalls watching cars pass through the Risser’s Mill Covered Bridge that once stretched across Chiques Creek.
“I used to sit there and watch all the cars drive through,” he said. “I’ve walked through it hundreds of times, and I’ve been on hayrides through it dozens of times. I probably knew about the bridge as soon as I was old enough to remember anything.”
Longenecker has done his research on the covered bridge, reading books that contain information about the bridge. He can also tell you about the day the bridge was burned.
“By the time the fire companies came to put it out, the roof and the sides of the bridge were gone,” he said. “Only the main structure logs remained.”
As he thought about the fire the next day, however, Longenecker began to realize that the structural logs that had been saved from the blaze had historical value and should be kept from a final destruction. Longenecker knew exactly what to do with them.
In the months before the bridge burned down, Longenecker, who had been the pastor of a local church, retired.
“I’ve always said that when I retired, I was going to build myself a woodshop,” he said.
When he stopped working, Longenecker did create the shop he had promised to himself. After the fire, he became determined to add some of the wood from Risser’s Bridge to his supply of lumber, saving a piece of history.
When Longenecker spoke to the contractor who had been hired to remove the remains of the bridge, he realized that his project would be much larger than he had first imagined.
“He told me that if I wanted some of [the wood], I’d have to take all of it!” Longenecker laughed.
Originally, the contractor had planned to haul the logs left from the fire and burn them. As a result of Longenecker’s pledge to take all of the wood, however, the remains of the bridge were instead transported to his farm on July 30, 2002.
Longenecker then took on the difficult task of preparing the wood for his shop. The nails from the original construction had to be removed and the logs washed.
“The outsides were badly charred, but inside there was good lumber,” Longenecker said.
Longenecker even brought a portable saw mill to his farm in order to cut the logs into boards. It was a difficult process that took weeks to complete, but once the wood was prepared, Longenecker was able to give the scarred logs new shape.
“I’ve never worked for a carpenter,” he said, when asked if he had always done woodworking. “But I remodeled everything around the farm. I built a pavilion, an outhouse, and added an extra room to the house.”
Using the knowledge he had gained from his construction work around the farm, Longenecker started producing anything and everything that could possibly be made from the damaged wood.
“It’s hard to mention everything I do make,” he said.
Out of the remains of Risser’s Mill Covered Bridge, Longenecker has made countless picture frames, shelves, candlesticks, buckets, and miniature bridges, which he then sold. His neighbors encouraged this new hobby, grateful that they would have the chance to keep a part of the bridge they had once seen every day.
Longenecker has also worked with a local artist who painted a picture of the bridge, providing frames for her finished works.
“We’ve sold hundreds of them,” he said.
Of all the items Longenecker has created, his favorite is an 18-foot replica of Risser’s Mill Bridge that he built across the pond on his farm in 2003. With the exception of the shingles, all the materials Longenecker used to create this smaller version came from the salvaged wood.
While Longenecker enjoys his hours of woodworking, he also likes interacting with his customers and seeing their interest in the story of his craft. He says that he often gives people a history of the bridge and the story of the lumber when they come to see him.
Many of Longenecker’s customers also have their own memories of Risser’s Mill Covered Bridge.
“Most of the people I sell to knew the bridge or are bridge lovers or interested in history,” he said. These customers appreciate Longenecker’s connection to the bridge and his knowledge of its history.
Although Longenecker has used most of the larger pieces of lumber over the past seven years, there are still many smaller pieces of wood left that he has to work with. He wants to continue to produce crafts even after the wood from the bridge is gone because woodworking was always something that interested him and it’s a craft that he truly enjoys.