That Bridgtte’s no lady; she’s a man

Manny, safe and sound back home. Right, during his time manning the bridge. (Harrison Thorp photos)

MILTON - It turns out the mannequin bolted to the middle planking of the New Bridge Road bridge last week is a man, and his name is “Manny.”

Patricia Martino of Micah Terrace has had “Manny” for several years, she told The Lebanon Voice today. She said he was attached to a porch near the water with a sign stating “No Wake” to try to slow down boaters who ignored “No Wake” signs posted at both ends of the channel that connects Northeast and Milton ponds.

Martino said she noticed “Manny” was stolen last weekend. She said an offensive sign was bolted over her “no wake” sign and called police to let them know.

When Martino learned that “Manny” was perched atop the middle pilings, she decided to go get him, because she was afraid someone else would steal him.

Martino said Manny was cemented to a piece of plywood and bolted into the porch, so the thieves had to do a lot of work to remove him.

She said the thieves also installed the board on his back, changed his clothes and screwed a guitar and flamingo on him before attaching him to the piling.

“You have to hand it to them,” she quipped. “They spent a lot of time on him.”

She and her husband, Gary, thought the whole thing was pretty funny, but Manny wasn’t as amused. He is “definitely a male; his bottom isn't covered and there is no question of gender. He does not like to be referred to as Bridgette,” she wrote in an email to The Lebanon Voice.

Patricia Martino said they would probably be leaving the flamingo and guitar, because to remove them would show unsightly holes where the screws were.

She also said this wasn’t Manny’s first brush with adventure this year. In May after bringing him out for the summer they neglected to bolt him down and a strong gust of wind must have blown him into the channel.

She said about a week later someone saw him floating in the lake and thought it was a body.

“Someone else saw him and said, ‘I know where he lives,’ and they brought him back to us,” Patirica Martino laughed.

Milton Police Chief Richard Krauss said today no arrests have been made in last week’s theft.