MUNCIE, IN — Sometimes, all it takes to bridge our differences is to share a meal — on a bridge.
Muncie’s annual Bridge Dinner will be Thursday, Sept. 18, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Washington Street Bridge.
Entrance to the event is free, along with kayak rides.
Food and drink will be available for purchase, but participants may bring their own if they’d prefer, said Krista Flynn, who works in the Ball State Office of Community Engagement. She helped organize the event this year.
Parking is within walking distance at Tuhey Park, and pedestrians and bikers will have easy access from White River Greenway. Restrooms will also be available at the event, Flynn said.
Event organizers invited food trucks and vendors who sell Muncie-oriented gear, Flynn said.
Music is a staple of the Bridge Dinner, and this year a DJ will be on site. In previous years, school bands or choirs and professional bands have performed. One year, competing school bands were featured.
The Bridge Dinner is hosted by multiple organizations, including the Ball State Office of Community Engagement, Shafer Leadership Academy and Muncie Action Plan.
The first Bridge Dinner, in 2017, came together through collaboration. Paperwork must be filed to shut down the bridge, tables and chairs need to be found, entertainment hired and marketing done, Flynn said.
The first Bridge Dinner was inspired by Peter Kageyma, author of “For the Love of Cities: The love affair between people and their places,” after the Ball State Office of Community Engagement hosted him to speak. He challenged the audience to seek connection with their community by asking, “Where is the fun?”
Having dinner in an unusual location, such as a bridge that people normally drive over, was the answer.
Ball State is involved with the dinner in an effort to connect students with the Muncie community and the community connected with Ball State, Flynn said.
Jennifer Mearns, first lady of Ball State University, said the Bridge Dinner helps sustain the Muncie community.
“It’s a perfect setting for the whole community to come together, as it’s bridging the downtown community with the university community,” she said. “And everybody loves to come out on a beautiful fall evening and just enjoy music, great food. … I think it’s one of the big events all year that helps to sustain this incredible community.”
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie’s Bridge Dinner features music, kayak rides on Thursday night
Reporting by Kenna Hartian / Muncie Star Press
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