Bad manners after dinner

CORNWALL — A dinner on the Covered Bridge went off as planned on Sunday, Sept. 14, as a promotion for the Community Table restaurant in Washington, Conn. 

Members of the Cornwall Volunteer Fire Department, which was to receive a portion of proceeds, closed the bridge precisely at 4 p.m. 

While waitstaff hustled to set up tables along its length to accommodate 80 diners, the guests, paying an average of $210 a plate (depending on whether or not they wanted bus transportation from New York City), began to arrive.

Several local businesses (The Wish House and Souterrain Gallery, Cornwall Bridge Pottery and Ian Ingersoll Cabinetmakers) were welcoming visitors, but few diners seemed interested in the village.

While a live band played on the Ingersoll showroom porch, the guests gathered for cocktails in the tiny park next to the bridge. Some local residents had reportedly bought tickets. Others came out to enjoy some socializing, an art opening at the gallery and to watch the unprecedented event unfold.

The Wandering Moose Cafe was closed for the evening; it had been leased by Chef Joel Viehland for food preparation and plating.

First Selectman Gordon Ridgway declined a seat offered to him, choosing instead to work in his capacity as a volunteer firefighter. Members manned road detours.

He remarked that it was great to see young people from the area working in West Cornwall.

The bridge reopened at about 9 p.m.

Morning brought a hangover of a mess. Bags of trash were left piled high at the back of the Moose, broken glass was not swept off of Lower River Road and equipment was left blocking the parking lot at Ingersoll’s.

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