The Navajo Bridge, which spans the width of Marble Canyon along the Colorado River, is one of the architectural wonders of Arizona.  We were honored to have historian and author Tom Martin, from Flagstaff, with us last week to tell us about about how the original bridge was constructed between 1927-1929, and to show us pictures from that era of its construction.  Constructed of concrete and steel, the bridge is tied for ninth highest in the U.S., and has been recognized as "Arizona's most technologically significant highway bridge," because of its reflection of the ingenuity of the time in building something that crossed such a deep canyon. 

 

When completed in 1929, the bridge's architects dubbed it "Lee's Ferry Bridge" or "Grand Canyon Bridge."  However, since a large part of he funding for the bridge came from the Navajo Tribal Trust Fund, the State of Arizona agreed to reflect the monetary donation made by the Navajo Nation by changing the name to "Navajo Bridge." 

 

Our thanks to Tom for bringing along a number of books related to the bridge, and his donation of half of the proceeeds from the sale of the books to our club.

 

Navajo Bridge remained the only highway crossing of the Colorado River for approximately 400 miles in either direction until the 1960s.  With it needing repairs and being too narrow for modern vehicles, in 1955 Arizona constructed a New Navajo Bridge to replace the old one.  Today the old one is no longer used for vehicle traffic, but it is open for tourists and pedestrians.  In the photo below. the Old Navajo Bridge is on the left, and the New Navajo Bridge is on the right.

 

 

 

 

ROTARY THEMES:  Each year a Rotary Theme becomes a focus and a motivator for Rotarians and Rotary Clubs around the globe.  As of the July 1 beginning of the next Rotary year, "Unite for Good" will be our new theme.  This year, our theme has been "The Magic of Rotary,"

 

 

 

 

Todd Clancy, wearing his International Service Director glasses and getup, served as our Sgt-at-Arms for last week's meeting. Among his antics, he is seen here auctioning off a prize botttle of Mezcal liquor.  Glen Hammond, the $45 winning bidder, then presented the prize bottle to his fellow-attorney, Eric Chester.  There is seldom a dull moment during Prescott-Sunup club meetings.  We do believe in having fun!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to YES ( Yavapai Exploration and Science ) on their event which was held on Saturday, May 10th at Granite Creek Park! This was the first year, and they had 100-plus children attending. Thank you to Traci Fournier, Marsha Teller, Parshala Wood, Tiffany and Emmett Jones, and Jane White. YES will be a sponsor at our Family Fest. 

 

 

 

Participants in this year's Let's Make A Deal fundraising for The Rotary Foundation's Annual Fund are scheduled to be presented with their Paul Harris Fellow recognitions at our club meeting on Wednesday, May 21.