Native launches Facebook diary for barge that caused destruction on Three-Mile Bridge
Published 12:22 pm Friday, October 2, 2020
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Greenville native Wesley Smith has found overnight fame in an interesting way.
Smith, a 2007 Greenville High School graduate, moved to the Pensacola, Fla. area, almost two years ago.
But it’s what he did in the aftermath of Hurricane Sally that has brought some fame.
In the wake of Hurricane Sally one of the Skanska USA barges broke loose, struck a fishing pier and then lodged under the Three Mile Bridge, which connects Gulf Breeze with Pensacola.
The bridge is now closed and those who need to travel to the area must now find alternate routes.
It’s unclear at this time how long it will take for repairs to be made.
To bring some comic relief in a trying time, Smith started posting a daily diary of “Marge Barge.”
“We got hit that Tuesday and I was off work on Wednesday because we were closed down,” he said. “Thursday, I was going to do tank deliveries in Milton and took a picture and went from there.”
Smith said it took off.
He said that he got so many friends requests that he decided to give Marge Barge her own Facebook profile.
On Marge Barge’s Facebook profile, she’s listed a separated and from Karlstad, Sweden, but lives in Pace, Fla.
Smith said that one night he had 500 friends, but then Pensacola news media featured a story on the page and it’s grown to 4,000.
“I was just trying to make light of a dreary situation,” he said. “For people who have to travel the area first thing in the morning and late at night, that’s not fun.”
Smith said he plans to make daily diary posts until Skannska USA moves the barge.
“I travel across the I-10 bridge every day,” he said. “So, I just snap a picture.”
Smith said he tries to post before the afternoon every day.
“I do it whenever I get a break,” he said. “I come across the bridge at 10-10:30 every day,” he said.
Pensacola’s Cat Country reads the diary post every afternoon.
To check out the Marge Barge page, visit https://www.facebook.com/marge.barge.524