Naming the New Bridge

The State Route 302 improvement project over Minter Creek is nearly finished. Most work is on winter suspension.

It’s been suggested that the KP community formally name the replacement bridge. Some want it named for Ricky, our favorite friendly flagger, who entertained us with his effervescent spirit during months of construction, but we’ve checked into it and the state will not name a bridge after a living person.

A better suggestion is that we name it for Helen Davis Skahan, whose family property the road crosses. This seems more appropriate because of her historical connection to the Key Peninsula and the legacy of her garden flowers, which still bloom alongside the road. (See “Skahan Property History,” KP News, Aug. 2017.)

Helen, of pioneer stock, died in 2015 at the age of 96. Her great granddaughter, Megan Sherrard, is interested in pursuing this memorial project and Kathy Faulk Lyons, who started the KP Blooms project, is interested in facilitating the garden.

We need to support our request with documentation and letters. We’re applying for inclusion on the Pierce County Historic Register, and County Councilman Derek Young will help whenever he can. We can form an online committee to put the Helen Skahan Bridge on the map for us and for KP posterity. To get involved, contact me at SusanFMendenhall@gmail.com.

Susan Freiler Mendenhall, Vaughn