By Joseph Slacian
jslacian@thepaperofwabash.com
ROANN – A “diamond in the rough” that has been kept in a Roann garage for 25 years is now on permanent display at the Town Hall.
In 1992, Roann resident Jim Huffman spent the first six months of his retirement creating a replica of the Roann Covered Bridge. Made out of old pine, the model bridge, which stands about 2 1/2-feet tall and about 5–feet long, was donated to the town about two months ago.
It originally sat atop a counter until a table was built by J&K Woodworking in North Manchester.
“I told them it was a piece of art and I want to make sure we display it like a piece of art,” Roann Clerk-Treasurer Bob Ferguson said. “That’s why we put the mirror underneath so they could look up and see all the intricate details in it.”
Huffman retired from the former Container Corp. of America.
“When I retired from Container, they gave me a band saw, and that’s what I cut it out with,” he said. “I can’t remember the date (he started working on the bridge), but it had just been restored. I just retired and needed something to do.
“I (made) a lot of trips back and forth down there (to the bridge), looking.”
Huffman would trek to the bridge, sketching portions of the structure he was working on at the time. He even went beneath the bridge to sketch the supports underneath. The work under the bridge is visible via the mirror placed in the table on which it now stands.
The Roann Covered Bridge was built in 1877, the fourth such bridge to stand at the site. Floods washed the first two away, while construction stopped on the third when the county ran out of funding.
In September 1990, the bridge was destroyed by fire, and the Wabash County Commissioners agreed to rebuild the structure, and it reopened in the early 1990s.
Huffman was out of town the night the bridge burned.
“It was a pretty sad event,” he said. “I spent some time watching them when they restored it. It made me feel good when it was reopened.”
After being stored in Huffman’s garage for 25 years, he decided it was time to donate it to the town.
“It was sitting in the garage,” he said. “It was really in the way, but I thought, really maybe the town would like to have it. I came over and talked to Bob and he jumped right on it.
“He was more enthused about it than I was.”
Ferguson said the reaction of the Roann residents have been nothing but positive.
“They just think it is gorgeous,” he said. “So many people have come in and they are in awe of it. When Jim brought it in, I was over the top. I knew we could give it a home.
“The people, when they come in, just go, ‘Wow.’ It’s one of those diamonds that’s been hiding in the rough.”
The bridge has been on public display just once before.
In 1993, Huffman entered the model in the Roann Covered Bridge Festival’s craft show.
“I won grand prize,” he said. “That’s the only time it’s been on display.”
Ferguson said, “We hope that Jim feels like we gave it the respect we should. It’s a gorgeous piece of art.”