(SPUZZUM) Over 350 people packed the picnic area of Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park for a special potlach potluck to launch to the petition drive to restore the 1926 Alexandra Bridge. The host Spuzzum First Nation shared their First Salmon Ceremony with the participants during the July 26 event.

Chilliwack-Hope MLA Laurie Throness promised the crowd he would personally deliver the petition to the BC Legislature. And that was music to the ears of Spuzzum First Nation Chief James Hobart.

“The Alexandra Bridge is an icon of Canadian transportation and cultural history, the highways equivalent of the Last Spike,” said Chief Hobart.

“But it also the tip of a heritage iceberg that includes 10,000 years of First Nations’ history, the fur trade, Gold Rush and the building of the railways. It’s something worth preserving.”

The Spuzzum First Nation and the other Alexandra Bridge Project partners (including the New Pathways to Gold Society) are asking supporters to gather as many signatures as possible by September 15.

The petition calls on the provincial government to show leadership in assembling the resources needed to restore and rejuvenate the 88-year-old bridge structure.