Congrats on a great Bridge Day 2015!

Bridge Day 2015 was great! Like... really great. The sun was shining, the skies were blue and the crowd was happy. Not only was the action on the Bridge keeping everyone busy, the action in Fayetteville was hopping, too, with many businesses reporting record-breaking days and good times all around.

We had BASE jumpers from 27 states & 5 countries make 313 total jumps.

While we don’t have an official count, we estimate that 50,000 to 60,000 thousand people attended.

Here’s what local business owners and event organizers had to say about Bridge Day:

Sharon Cruikshank, Bridge Day Commission

“At the end of the day when it was all said and done, everyone was smiling and relaxed. I enjoyed Bridge day so much, and everyone had a good time. Our good relationships with BASE, rappellers, law enforcement really showed because we made everyone feel welcome.”

Wendy Bayes, Cathedral Café

“We had our Best Bridge Day Everrrr! Even though it was sunny, there was a little chill in the air, so we were busy selling coffee, hot chocolate, hot mulled cider as well as hats and scarves. My best Bridge Day moment was dancing with people participating in the Active SWV Scavenger Hunt. That was a hoot.”

Lewis Rhinehart, Secret Sandwich Society

“We had our busiest day ever, since we first opened. It was the 4th weekend for our space upstairs, The Grove, where we had 6 beers on tap, wine, cider, and serve chips and dips. The Grove features the work of a different artist each month. This month it’s the photography of Craig Reger, and next month it will be Ginger Danz, and we have live music on the weekend nights, so it’s a great space for people to relax and wait for a table.

“My best Bridge Day Moment was seeing the whole restaurant full and hearing the overwhelmingly good response from our customers because it all went according to plan.”

Kenny Parker, Water Stone Outdoors

“I love Bridge Day and the Chili Cook-Off in Fayetteville. This year was an exceptional day. We had perfect weather; sunny and beautiful, with some cold breezy wind. Water Stone Outdoors had our busiest day ever and I was pretty busy at the Chili Cook-Off, which I compete in with Ethan Geyer every year.

“My Best Bridge Day moment was when I found out that Water Stone had a great day, and then Ethan and I took 3rd with our 10 different types of pork chili and carnitas made from scratch. The competition was intense this year. There was really good chili there.”

Sally Kiner, Chili Cook-Off

“This was the 7th annual Fayetteville Chili Cook-Off. We were so excited because we had no rain or snow. It was bright, blue and sunny but cool enough for folks to really enjoy eating chili.

“This year, there were 15 different entries. We had about 350 to 450 people come and eat chili, walk around and listen to great music. My best Bridge Day moment came when the judging was complete, because then I could enjoy the music, and when I looked around I saw mostly people I didn’t know. It’s great that new people and visitors can see Fayetteville.

“The Whiskey 7 flew over Fayetteville several times throughout the day, and looking up and seeing the planes against the blue skies with the fall colors was amazing. Overall, it was such a beautiful fall day, and so many people got to be outside and enjoy the day. It was big-time fun in a small-town way.”

Kim Feazell, Taste of Bridge Day

“Taste of Bridge Day is a fundraiser for 3 Fayetteville and Oak Hill Rotary Clubs. It’s our biggest fundraiser, and it makes a lot of our community work and children’s programs possible. I’m pretty sure it was a record year. Having the art walk really added a sense of community to the event. We had live music with Common Houses playing throughout the night. My best Moment at Taste Of Bridge Day was definitely giving out the awards.”

• Best Entrée: ACE’s Woody’s Smokehouse
• Best Dessert & Best Appetizer to Hawks Nest Restaurant
• People’s Choice: Corner Gas & Grill
• Highest Sales: AOTG Smokey's on the Gorge.

Melanie Seiler, Active SWV

“We hosted our 1st Social Media Scavenger Hunt at Bridge day this year, and it was a ton of fun. We will definitely be repeating it again next year with more business partners. We included a lot of fun activities so folks could get in a workout and see cool things at Bridge Day and in Fayetteville. My best moment at Bridge Day was when we announced Jenni Arnett as the 1st place winner.”