“Think about the things, places, or people that connect us.” I like this idea as it relates to the theme of Bridge.
I share several angles of the Guy West Bridge that spans the American River from the Sacramento State Campus to the community of University Village/ Campus Commons. This bridge is also right off the American River Bike Trail.
Built in 1966 to link the campus with the then-new, Campus Commons college-community development, the 1,144-foot-long, 16-foot-wide pedestrian bridge is officially known as the Guy A. West Memorial Bridge. Dr. West was the first president of then Sacramento State College.
I teach a general education course on Friday mornings called “Leisure Lifestyle Development.” Taught in a large lecture hall seating 80-plus students, I keep them busy learning how recreation and leisure are essential in their lives.
Each semester, after a lecture on various play theories, I take the class outdoors where we walk the short distance to the Guy West Bridge and blow bubbles.
We get a few quizzical stares, but my favorite question from a man on a bicycle was, “What class is this?!” Of course, I’m happy to tell him!
A bridge that is a mini-replica of the Famed Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco indeed connects university students with the surrounding communities and a sense of fitness and leisure through walking and cycling.
How do bridges in your hometown connect the community?
Second Wind Leisure Perspectives 
What is YOUR perspective? Please include your name if WP identifies you as “anonymous.