FAYETTEVILLE, WV (WOAY)- One of the most popular attractions in the new river gorge is Bridge Walk. Well, the man who started the Bridge Walk has sadly passed away.
Benjamin Simpson, commonly known as Benjy, was known as an adventurer and an advocate for our youth. He believed in using outdoor adventure as a way to help our young people overcome obstacles in their lives.
Originally from North Carolina, he came to West Virginia and opened a rafting company, Passages to Adventure.
In 2009, he co-founded Bridge Walk to give guided tours on the catwalk under the driving path of the New River Gorge Bridge. Since its inception, Bridge Walk has had over 134 thousand visitors from every state in the country.
Benjy has had more of an impact on people than just those who ventured the walk, he’s impacted many in our community.
“so the scope between his influence on the staff and the youth that he was working with and clients, because we did a lot of team building with businesses and corporations. It’s just multiplied. And, you know, I remember him talking very excitedly about one of the children that was on one of those programs. He came back ten years later to talk about his family and his job and how it was life-changing. And so his hit work in that field was impactful, both individually and also, you know, he’s an alumni of Outward Bound,” explained Cindy Martel, the interim General Manager at Bridge Walk. “Its impact. It’s learning about impacts that we didn’t even know about. You know, they talk about how sometimes you find out things about people after they pass on. There’s a lot of things to find out. That’s all very positive. The community not realize that bridge walk. And, you know, if you look around here in our souvenir or of your shop, there’s local artisans and he enjoyed that.”
In lieu of flowers, they ask for people to consider donating to the Benjy Simpson Memorial Fund. The money will go into helping encourage stem programs for West Virginia middle and high schools through a bridge-building contest hosted by WVDOH. The donation information is listed below.
Mail: Benjy Simpson Memorial Fund, Fayette County National Bank, PO box 209, Fayetteville, WV 25840
Venmo: type ‘memorial’ to @benjy-simpson
While Benjy will be buried in his hometown in North Carolina, there’ll be a celebration of life near the bridge in the coming weeks. If you wish to go it’ll be Saturday, February 8th from 1 to 4 pm at Smokey’s on the Gorge.
