Inspired by the news that the Bridge over Broad was finally opening, Voice reader Jeanne Vest started perhaps the most important Change.org petition of your lifetime.
Vest's petition, found here, asks the city of Murfreesboro to officially name the Bridge Over Broad something a little more, let's say, entertaining. That name is Bridgey McBridgeface.
As of 1:45 Monday afternoon, the petition had more than 3,500 signatures.
Here at the Voice, we started calling the bridge by the moniker earlier this month when another reader suggested it on our Facebook page.
While we are honored by the outpouring of interest in naming it Bridgey McBridgeface, we would like to make another suggestion. We have an opportunity to honor someone who made a positive impact on our community.
We actually have two chances, one with the bridge and another with West Park.
To get serious for a moment, I'd like to suggest two women who dedicated their lives to helping the people of Murfreesboro: Christine Huddleston and Mary Huhta.
Huddleston died in 2016 after a lifetime dedicated to service.
She was the first woman elected to the Rutherford County Commission and worked to help the homeless in Rutherford County by founding Room in the Inn.
Huddleston founded Room in the Inn in 1995, serving as director until 2013. The homeless advocacy program that focused on women and families has closed since her death.
"She started working with the homeless 10 years before she had a building," Huddleston's daughter Susan Sprague said in an article in The Daily News Journal. "Working with the homeless was what she felt God wanted her to do."
Her name would be perfect for the bridge.
Mary Huhta was the first woman elected to the Murfreesboro City Council. She was tragically killed by her husband in May 2016.
The women she worked alongside in the League of Women Voters remember her as a community leader, who dedicated her life to make Murfreesboro a better place to live.
Huhta was elected to the Murfreesboro City Council in 1982 and served until 1994.
She also served on many other commissions and boards, including Murfreesboro Beautification Commission, Rutherford County Board of Zoning Appeals, and Murfreesboro Multi-Purpose Recreation Facility Commission. The MMPRC is the group that guided the design and construction of SportsCom, according to her obituary.
An article about a candidate's forum in 1982 from The Tennessean on April 20, 1982, quoted her as saying "the council must keep the city 'a preferred place to live' and must be concerned with rapid growth and enforcing codes. The city must learn how to control living conditions and industrial growth, and continue to find financing for city services."
This is a philosophy that every council member has espoused since and even inspired the city's motto.
It's arguable that her philosophy has shaped Murfreesboro into the town we know and love (most of the time).
Her name would be perfect for West Park.
While it would be fun to have a bridge called Bridgey McBridgeface, this is an important opportunity to honor two women who worked to “create a better a better quality of life” like the city's motto says.
The city has made it easy to suggest names with simple web forms for the bridge and the park.
Suggest names to the city
Michelle Willard is a freelance journalist who fills her days with social media marketing, politics and true crime podcasts, and taking complaints. You can complain to her on Twitter @MichWillard or by email michelle(at)murfreesborovoice.com.
