What's happening:
Sharon Wood Wortman and Ed Wortman, authors of The Portland Bridge Book, and Edith Fuller, a retired PPS district librarian, are part of a volunteer effort to create The Big & Awesome Bridges of Portland & Vancouver—A Book for Young Readers. This will be the first ever bona fide book for children about the local bridges.
A project of PDX Bridge Festival, Inc., the goal is to give 4,000 free copies to Portland Public Schools and to Vancouver School District for classroom use. For more information, go to www.portlandtribune.com/.
Bridges have been taught as part of PPS third grade social studies curriculum since at least the 1950s, but there has never been a book about the bridges for elementary students and their teachers. The Wortmans are also leading the fundraising campaign to get the book printed.
To donate (all donations are tax-deductible) and/or to learn more about the project and how to get your name listed in Big & Awesome, visit www.pdxbridgefestival.org and/or check out the KickStarter (digital platform) fundraising campaign at www.kickstarter.com/profiles/bigawesomebridges.
PDX Bridge Festival 2012
July 7, 2012 - Celebrate the Steel Bridge’s 100th birthday this year with a FREE party at the Slate, 2001 NW 19th, in the Northwest Industrial District of Portland. Scion, one of the festival's main sponsors, is providing the space: Lots of music, lots of food vendors, and lots of bridge stories.
Sign up for one or all six “pay as you will” bridge walks celebrating the Steel Bridge’s 100th birthday. All proceeds go to fund Big & Awesome.
Saturday, July 21, 9 a.m. until noon, the day the Steel Bridge turns 100, join guide Nathan Hoover for a walk across the Steel Bridge and other downtown Portland bridges. Begins at Floyd’s Coffee, 118 NW Couch, Portland. Includes a visit to the Morrison Bridge to meet the operator and tour the bascule pit. No advance reservations necessary. www.willamettebridgewalk.com
Saturday, August 11, 9 a.m. until noon, join Sharon Wood Wortman and Ed Wortman for a walk across the Steel Bridge and other downtown Portland bridges. Includes a visit to the Morrison Bridge to meet the operator and tour the bascule pit. Begins at Floyd’s Coffee, 118 NW Couch, Portland. No advance reservations necessary.
Friday, July 13, and Saturday, July 14, join Sharon for one-hour walks to the Steel Bridge as part of the Union Pacific Railroad’s two-day 150th birthday celebration at Portland Union Train Station. The Steel Bridge pay-as-you-will walks begin at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., both days, and begin and end at the train station. No advance reservations necessary.