Just in time for those long drives to the Upper Peninsula, the Historical Society of Greater Lansing is hosting a showing of "Our Bridge at 50," a video which shows the planning, construction, and opening of the Mackinac Bridge. The film, which was first previewed in 2007, will be shown Thursday, June 19, at 6:30 p.m., at the Rogers-Carrier House, 528 N. Capitol Ave on the campus of Lansing Community College. Roberts Wilks, one of the producers and videographers on the project, will be on site to answer questions. The event and parking is free both on the street and nearby LCC lots.
“Our Bridge at 50” is a 40-minute film that was made in 2007 by the photo and video unit of the Michigan Department of Transportation. It was produced at the request of the Mackinac Bridge Authority to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the opening to traffic of the Mackinac Bridge, which occurred on November 1, 1957. The video was shown to an audience in St. Ignace, during the 50th anniversary celebrations, which took place jointly in Mackinac City and St. Ignace on Saturday, July 28, 2007. The title of the video acknowledges the fact that most Michiganders feel that the Mackinac Bridge represents their state and their own sense of identity and that it is their bridge.
The video has hardly been seen since its original screening 18 year ago. Because of certain copyright restrictions, it cannot be uploaded to the internet but can only be shown to live audiences. It will be introduced by Bob Wilks, who worked for MDOT at the time and who video-graphed and edited the video. “We were very lucky in many ways”, says Wilks. “We had an excellent team in the video unit in 2007. Dawn Garner wrote an imaginative, well-researched and beautifully-paced script. Bob Felt helped schedule interviews, which included interviews with several of the men who had actually worked on the bridge. You can feel their sense of pride and happiness as they look at the bridge. They seem hardly able to believe that they actually welded the girders, manipulated the cables and otherwise helped to build that magnificent structure.”
“As an additional stroke of luck, in the year 2000, Mr. Larry Rubin, who had been the first Executive Secretary of the Mackinac Bridge Authority and who was a noted author of several books about the bridge, happened to visit our unit from his home in Mackinac City, looking for historic bridge photographs. I had never met him but knew who he was and asked him if, while he was in the building, he would be willing to sit for a video interview. At that time he was an enthusiastic, dynamic, 88-year-old gentleman who seemed delighted to recall his memories of how the bridge had come together. By the time the 50th anniversary rolled around, Mr. Rubin was 95-years-old and using a wheelchair for mobility. We reviewed the interview footage we had, and decided it was perfect for our needs and there was nothing to be gained by contacting him again for an interview in 2007.”
Although the video contains several references to the fact that the bridge is now 50-years-old, that inaccuracy does not seem to diminish the enjoyment of the video. It’s still our bridge at 68.
Bio
Bob Wilks is a retired videographer and editor. He was born in Olivet, Michigan and during his high school years, every Friday or Saturday night you could find him at the State Theater in Olivet, enjoying one of the Hollywood movies that arrived at the theater weekly. He sometimes borrowed his mother’s silent 8mm movie camera and tried to imitate some of the scenes he had viewed, persuading his high school buddies to be actors. He decided he wanted to become a “filmmaker”.
Bob took film classes at Michigan State University and worked at the Instructional Media Center there as an assistant to the film editor, Gunter Pfaff, who was a great mentor, teacher and influence to Bob .
After graduating from MSU in 1967, he spent two years in the Peace Corps in the state of Madhya Pradesh, India, working with that state’s water-well drilling program (and recording some of his experiences on silent 8mm movie film).
Bob returned to Olivet in 1970 and had stayed in touch with Gunter Pfaff, who was by then working with the MSU College of Human Medicine’s Biomedical Communication Center. Gunter helped Bob get a job working with him in the unit.
Bob eventually decided that there was no such thing as a “filmmaker”. It was always a team of people with a variety of talents who made movies, and he was always happy to be a part of such a team.
During his career, Bob worked for WKZO TV in Kalamazoo, the Arthroscopy Video Journal/Comm Video Productions in Lansing, the Educational Institute Of The American Hotel and Motel Association in Lansing and the Michigan Department of Transportation, once again, in Lansing.
His years with MDOT coincided with three important anniversaries, and he was involved with making videos that celebrated each of these occasions. One of these milestones occurred when the Mackinac Bridge turned 50-years-old, and another when the International Bridge between Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie, Canada also had a 50th anniversary. The Michigan Department of Transportation itself turned 100-years-old during his time there.
Bob has been married for 50 years to his wife, Charlotte, and the couple has two daughters, Molly Degle and Stephanie Leite, as well as a 9-year-old granddaughter, Moema Leite.