Nine-year-old Owen Nichols cut the ribbon on a new bridge in Iron Station, N.C., on June 29, officially dedicating the state’s first bridge built by Mennonite Disaster Service volunteers. They spent about eight days working on the concrete-supported structure.

Situated at the end of a private unpaved road spanning Reed Creek, the bridge is 11 feet wide, 60 feet long and sturdy enough to hold a fully loaded fire truck — and then some.

As Iron Station resident Robert Hudson said, “I don’t think this bad boy is going anywhere.”

Hudson and his wife are among 20 families who live in the hilly community, a place they treasure because it’s out of the way.

“It’s quiet,” he said. “We’re in the country.”

But when the culvert leading to their community washed out in January, they were more remote than they wanted to be. With a pedestrian bridge, then a temporary bridge large enough for an all-terrain vehicle, then a makeshift road made of piled-up gravel and dirt, they could sometimes leave their community. But when it rained, they were often simply stuck in their homes.

“The Mennonites came in and saved the day,” said Brandy Nichols, Owen’s mother.

“We were sad when they left,” added Owen. He and other residents of Iron Station often stopped and talked with MDS volunteers who lived in RVs on the side of the road adjacent to the bridge worksite.

But, Owen added, “I can get to summer camp every day, and I get to go swimming!”

After a fire truck took a ceremonial drive over the bridge, MDS regional operations coordinator Larry Stoner said a large team of people and organizations helped MDS make the bridge a reality.

MDS volunteers provided the labor to use materials worth about $160,000 and acquired with grants provided by Samaritan’s Purse, Lutheran Disaster Response, Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and other donors.

North Carolina state Sen. Ted Alexander attended the dedication and expressed gratitude for the unique collaboration.

“To me, it’s a testament to our North Carolinian and American neighborliness and ingenuity,” he said. “This is truly what makes our country a great place to live.”

Maryn Olson, director of Lutheran Disaster Response, said the bridge not only connected residents to their homes but also connected disaster- response organizations to each other.

“When we heard that the Mennonites wanted to build a bridge, we of course supported that, because when the Mennonites build something, they do it well,” she said. “Thank you, residents, for your patience and your trust.”

Trust is also a foundation for the ­disaster-response organizations involved in the bridge-building effort.

“This bridge would not have been possible had the foundation not been laid between Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, Lutheran Disaster Response, Samaritan’s Purse and MDS,” said Bill Neely of the Presbyterian Disaster Assistance national response team.

For the Iron Station community, it means not having to worry every time it rains.

“ ‘Thank you’ is just not enough,” said Brandy Nichols. “I’ve met so many of my neighbors and built relationships.

“I can go home now. If it rains, it’s OK. I can go home!”

Kevin King, MDS executive director, said an act of nature took away the bridge in January, but an act of God put the people together to help.
“Everyone who crosses this bridge, know there are people who love you,” he said.