Six months after his passing, Sally Dunning remembers her husband, Bob Dunning, as a brilliant, thoughtful and humble man.

“He was an extraordinary man,” said Sally Dunning. “He was my life partner.”

Sally Dunning is not alone in her estimation of her husband. As plans were made to name a Pondicherry Park bridge in memory of the cherished local craftsman, environmentalist, and community leader, colleagues and friends fondly remembered his hard work and gentle nature.

The signature bridge, which will be adjacent to the Bridgton Community Center on Depot Street, will span 60 feet over Stevens Brook and will serve as the main entryway to the park from downtown Bridgton. The design was developed by local crafts people, who will also play a major role in its construction. The intent was to highlight natural materials and a traditional look.

The second bridge will span 45 feet across Willett Brook and will provide access to the park from Stevens Brook Elementary School and the School Administrative District 61 Learning Center.

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“Bob was very active in conservation and environmental issues. He was a friend to education and was a top-notch restoration carpenter,” said Peter Lowell, executive director of the Lakes Environmental Association.

“The really valuable thing about Bob was that he worked for his community and his ideals and he made a difference,” Lowell said, adding that he hopes future generations learn from Dunning’s example that they too can make a difference.

Sally Dunning believes her late husband would have been pleased by the proposed bridge in Pondicherry Park. “He really admired simplicity of design and he would be enchanted that this project is representing the full spectrum of the town,” she said.

Bob Dunning, who moved to Bridgton with his wife in 1975, was a skilled restoration carpenter and volunteered at Lake Region Middle School and with the Bridgton Historical Society.

He also helped fight against federal plans to store nuclear waste in the Lakes Region in the 1980s and was a member and supporter of the Lakes Environmental Association. His support included building a wooden conference table for the group. According to Lowell, Dunning was well-liked in town and weighed in on local issues in productive and positive ways.

“I just think its wonderful,” said Ned Allen, president of the Bridgton Historical Society, of plans to name the bridge in memory of Dunning, adding that Dunning was an incredible resource to the historical society. “He was a great guy. He would do anything for us,” Allen said.

Dunning taught at the historical society’s annual woodworkers and artisans show and played a major role in restoring the barn and blacksmiths shop at Narramissic Farm, a property owned and operated as a museum by the society.

Allen said he believed the most fitting way to honor Dunning’s memory “would be for Bridgton to continue to preserve its historic heritage, its architecture, and its relation to the natural landscape,” adding that Pondicherry Park fills this goal. Allen said the historical society plans to do something to honor Dunning’s memory at their annual woodworkers and artisans show July 12-13.

Sally Dunning said she would like future generations to learn from her husband’s example to do their best work every day.

“He was a very thoughtful man and not only did he do the work of physically preserving older homes in the area, he also really was inspirational just in helping folks understand sometimes complex issues that would have lasting effect on the town,” Sally Dunning said, adding that her husband was a quiet, humble man.

The couple met when both were attending the University of Pittsburgh. They married in 1974 and moved to Bridgton the following year. Sally Dunning began working as a nurse at Bridgton Hospital soon after, a job she holds today and hopes to continue for years into the future. Sally Dunning said her husband was a picture of health when he passed away last November of a heart attack.

Pondicherry Park recently received $5,000 from the TD Charitable Foundation. Now that 59 acres are secured, the campaign’s primary focus has turned to raising $210,000 for the Dunning bridge and $110,000 for the school bridge.

On Tuesday, June 24, the Telluride Mountain Film Festival will be held at the Magic Lantern in Bridgton, presenting outstanding adventure and environmental films by some of the premier independent filmmakers.

There will be two showings, at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m., each with different films. There will also be a special preview of a film on Baxter State Park by Bridgton’s Caitlyn Coady. Raffles and giveaways will be held before the show and during intermission. Tickets for each showing are $10 in advance and $12 at the door and will be available at Lakes Environmental Association, the Cool Moose and the Magic Lantern.

The second event is a barn sale on Saturday, June 28, which will raise funds for both Pondicherry Park and Lakes Environmental Association. Nina Keene, who sold 11.5 acres for the park last fall, is donating an array of items that fill her barns at 76 High St. in Bridgton.

There are many antiques, including ceramic crocks, skates, snowshoes, portraits, lamps, lanterns, wood stoves, trunks, a beautiful carved wooden bedroom set from the 1900s, candle molds, photo albums, kitchen ware, incredible tools and even a printing press. The sale is from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. and will be held rain or shine.

Lowell said he hopes the park will be finished by the end of 2009. A trail-building crew from the Appalachian Mountain Club has already begun three weeks of work building the more than two miles of trail in the park and Lowell expects the park to be user-friendly by the middle of July. Lowell said the bridge footings will most likely be placed in the fall and he expects the bridges themselves to be installed in the fall of 2009.

“The planets have lined up for this project in a number of remarkable ways,” Lowell said.

To donate to Pondicherry Park, send a check to LEA, 230 Main St., Bridgton ME 04009 or Loon Echo Land Trust, 1 Chase St., Bridgton ME 04009. Donations can also be made online at www.pondicherrypark.org.

The late Bob Dunning, right, contributed his time to events such as the annual woodworkers and artisans show at Narramissic Farm in Bridgton. A proposed bridge over Stevens Brook will be named in honor of his service to the town.Friends and family of the late Bob Dunning support a footbridge such as this named in his honor to cross Stevens Brook in Bridgton to Pondicherry Park. Dunning was an accomplished woodworker and preservationist who helped restore local barns and structures.