Bridge of Flowers News
Bridge of Flowers Studies: Tufts University students Connect All Things Bridge to the Popular Span
For more information about this project, please read "A Garden Bridge Offers Aspiring Engineers an Opportunity to Grow," published in Tufts Now.
The Bridge of Flowers has long been a source of inspiration for people in all walks of life -- painters and photographers, poets and gardeners, as well as those who come simply to bask in the beauty of the flowers in every season. For engineer and college instructor Brian Brenner, the bridge also inspired a course he taught last year at Tufts University: CEE-129, Bridge Design and Rehabilitation. The work his students produced in that course is now featured on the Bridge website, where it’s offering a wide array of resources for bridge enthusiasts and historians as well as curricular aids for teachers, students, and parents.
Brenner, a principal engineer at Tighe & Bond and a Professor of the Practice at Tufts University, confesses to being partial to the Bridge of Flowers. “My professional life has always focused on bridges,” he says, “but the Bridge of Flowers, for me, has become a favorite.” When he was preparing to teach a course at Tufts last fall about bridge design and rehabilitation, he decided to offer his students the opportunity to use the Bridge of Flowers as a case study for some of their project assignments. “The Bridge has such a rich history,” he says, “And now, after almost a century, it is beginning to show signs of needing rehabilitation, so it was an ideal subject on many levels -- about bridge construction, then and now; about types of bridges and uses; about the role of bridges in the community; and about what bridges can teach us.”
His students, Brenner says, responded enthusiastically, and, working in small groups, produced four separate projects, each focused on a different aspect of bridges, but all related in some way to the Bridge of Flowers. As the students researched and designed their projects, they also consulted with members of the Bridge of Flowers volunteer committee, offering to make the projects available as a way to enrich the Bridge’s own website with a wealth of information that could serve a wide variety of users. All the projects are listed under “About Us” on the homepage and and then linked from “Educational Resources.”
Bridge of Flowers is a Greenfield Recorder 2021 Franklin Favorites Winner!
Bridge of Flowers has won "Favorite Tourist Attraction" in the Greenfield Recorder's 2021 Franklin Favorites competition. The 2021 Franklin Favorites was showcased in a Special Section in the Greenfield Recorder on October 28, 2021, with the bridge featured on page 7.
Bridge of Flowers Gardener Becomes U.S. Citizen
Assistant Gardener, Elliston Bingham, originally from Jamaica, became a U.S. citizen in 2020 and we are very proud of him. Read about his accomplishment in the Greenfield Recorder.
Holiday Lights, 2020
The Bridge of Flowers will spring to life in the dark winter season, beginning on FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 27 when new lights and decorations and a “nature tree” will be officially “lit,” thanks to a grant to the Greater Shelburne Falls Area Business Association (GSFABA) from the MassDevelopment Commonwealth Places Program. For more information, click here.
90th Anniversary of the Bridge of Flowers
In 2019, the Bridge of Flowers marked its 90th anniversary on Saturday, October 5, with a community-wide celebration that opened with a festive parade of children across the Bridge, led by the Shelburne Falls Military Band. The old-fashioned birthday party featured a display of art work of the Bridge done by local artists as well as tributes from state legislators and community leaders. The Bridge is widely regarded as the oldest example of a re-purposed structure in the country and continues to rely almost entirely on volunteer support.
A Franklin Favorite
The Bridge of Flowers was recognized as Franklin Favorite tourist attraction three years in a row (2018, 2019, and 2020) in a contest sponsored by the Greenfield Recorder.
Virtual Visit
The Bridge was featured, once again, in a recent issue of Yankee Magazine.
Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls |
Connecting Point - WGBY | Sept. 10, 2018
"From Ragweed to Roses"
– New England Today visits
the Bridge of Flowers
Garden Shed
The garden shed, with its beautiful stained-glass window, was built several years ago with funds donated by generous visitors and Friends of the Bridge. It houses the garden tools used by the Head Gardener and Assistant Gardener as well as the volunteers who call themselves the Blossom Brigade.
