We don’t have a lot of old bridges left, at least steel truss bridges that remind me of the Erector Sets I grew up with. There’s one in Guerneville, but so many RV’s got dinged up trying to pass each other that they’ve made it into a pedestrian bridge and created a functional, but un-dramatic concrete replacement. This bridge, the Wohler Bridge, not only represents the engineering past for all of us, but it crosses the Russian River between Healdsburg and Forestville at a particularly beautiful stretch.<More>
This was the site of the Santa Rosa YMCA Summer Camp that my brothers and sister and numerous friends from around Grace Tract attended through the mid-Sixties (’63-’67). What wonderful, absolutely unforgettable times. To be in a redwood forest amongst all the chattering and activities. Swimming in the Russian River–learning to swim in the gravel pond immediately adjacent the river where we advanced our proficiency levels under guidance of qualified swim instructors (some) from the Terrace Plunge, before being allowed to swim in the river. What times. Who out there attended YMCA at Camp Arrowhead on the Russian River? We surely did.
You mentioned the Terrace Plunge. I moved away from Santa Rosa in the summer of 1955. Our family had lived on Montecito at El Capistrano and were members of the Terrace Plunge. I spent happy childhood summers there. I learned to swim there, taking lessons from Johnny O’Day. This summer I went back to walk the neighborhood and to recall those days. I walked over to Town and Country Village, went out back, and the Terrace Plunge was gone! When did it close? What became of Mr and Mrs Gracchi? Hall’s Sporting Goods next door was gone too. That was also a hangout. Sure wish I had pictures. The only thing remaining was the concrete retaining wall behind the shops just south of the Plunge? I recall when the wall was put in, and how I played on it. Townsend’s Candies was gone too? Did you go there? What is the history of that?