The Mystery of Moonbeam Bridge
No, it's not the title of a Nancy Drew book, but the sudden name-change of the Gurney O. Bane Bridge has some people scratching their heads.
Photos
The mystery surrounding Moonbeam Bridge deepens after the Marietta Daily Journal reported Saturday that city, county and state officials don’t know who’s responsible for changing the name of the Gurney O. Bane Bridge in south Smyrna.
The moniker was first noticed a few weeks ago beneath signage for the Gurney O. Bane Bridge. No one could claim responsibility for the signs and City of Smyrna staff removed them Friday, March 16.
At Monday’s Smyrna City Council meeting Ron Fennel, the representative for Ward 7 where the bridge is located, still had not identified the person responsible for posting the very official looking signs on the bridge on Cooper Lake Road, but indicated that there are no hard feelings.
“I wanted to invite whomever may be responsible to meet me for breakfast one morning," he said. "I’ll buy your breakfast if you’ll just tell me the story behind it. We don’t want to prosecute anybody, I just want to have fun. Apparently someone was having fun (...) So if you’re the clever person who did this I’d like to meet you and shake your hand. It’s quite a publicity stunt, but thank you for thinking of Smyrna when trying to get across whatever you’re trying to get across.”
Smyrnans aren't the only ones who've caught on to the mystery. A quick Google search for Moonbeam Bridge reveals that the story has been published in papers across the nation like the The Mansfield News Journal in Ohio and The Marshfield News Herald in Wisconsin. It seems everyone's interest has been piqued by the Moonbeam Bridge mystery.
No one has come forward to take responsibility for what Fennel said may have been an early April Fools’ Day prank and no one has reported seeing anyone post the signs. Was the prankster operating under cover of darkness? Moonbeam Bridge is certainly a more whimsical name than the Gurney O. Bane Bridge. No offense, Gurney. With April Fools’ Day around the corner will the Moonbeam Bridge mystery inspire a rash of tricksters to give other Smyrna-Vinings bridges, streets and buildings more fanciful names? Vinings Jubilee could become Unicorn Jubilee. Cumberland CID might be renamed Solstice CID. And Concord Road could become Rainbow Road. After all, that would sound so much nicer when paired with Spring Road.
K. Davis
8:17 pm on Wednesday, March 21, 2012
This could be a political statement. Gov. Jerry Brown was given the nickname Moonbeam by Chicago columnist Mike Royko. In The Orange County Register there's an editorial about Moonbeam's "bridge tax". Brown wanted voters to approve three months of higher taxes to bridge the gap between the end of the fiscal year and an election.
http://www.vvdailypress.com/articles/republicans-28202-tax-bridge.html
Bill Lyons
10:41 am on Thursday, March 22, 2012
Argyle Stop Bridge
The new bridge on Campbell Bridge is a welcome improvement. We appreciate it.
This bridge is placed at a memorable location. Over 100 years ago there was no bridge. A photo at the Smyrna Museum shows the sign marking the Argyle House stop for the railroad.
It would be appropriate to mark this bridge, or the small park space next to it with a sign memorializing this stop and the Argyle House. The museum has the guest register for the Argyle House for that era, showing many visitors, including my relatives the Crowe family, who visited there before coming to the Smyrna area to participate in forming the Creatwood Community.
I would be pleased to show anyone this history at the Smyrna Museum and work with anyone to develop appropriate language for this memorial.