JANELLE PATTERSON The Marietta Times Ted Offenberger pauses while fulfilling orders at his Waterford shop, Southeastern Dry Goods and Trading Post, to pet his cat Charlie Thursday.

“I was forbidden to walk across that bridge,” she laughed. “Dad held onto that one.”

But Rock grew up on the Waterford side of the Muskingum River, she graduated from Waterford High School and now, she owns a business on the Beverly side and has watched her grandchildren grow up as cadets.

“The rivalry only exists now between the schools when they play each other,” she explained Thursday as she put covers on bleacher seats she sells with logos of many local school districts– including both Fort Frye Cadets and Waterford Wildcats.

The two communities, Beverly and Waterford, have long been tied to each other with shopping for groceries and delivering babies occurring on the northern side while other staple services like security, plumbing, electric and painting could be obtained from the southern.

JANELLE PATTERSON The Marietta Times The Ohio 339 bridge over the Muskingum River sees traffic pass between Beverly and Waterford Thursday.

“Back then you went back and forth to support local businesses, but that didn’t extend to dating,” explained Rock. “But now with grandbabies and even one great-grandchild, where they are going to go to school is still talked about but you’re going to cheer them on regardless of the school.”

Rock said last winter when the Waterford High School girls basketball team went to the semi-finals at the state level, she saw patrons of her store, normally buying blue and red, stop in for a green shirt to show their support.

“All in all both towns come together to support each other in good times and bad,” she said.

Coming together occurs in the businesses of both communities, some gathering at the Jukebox Pizza Thursday with jubilation when walking in the door to find more familiar faces than expected to sit with.

“It’s always, always full here,” said Mindy Harra, who works for Waterford Bank but stopped into the restaurant to laugh with her best friend Jill Scott after the two were greeted by friends from Churchtown. “I guess we should just send a text that says ‘we’re at Jukebox come over.'”

JANELLE PATTERSON The Marietta Times Patrons from both sides of the Muskingum River gather at Jukebox Pizza in Waterford Thursday.

The two shared updates with Judy Waller, of Barlow, and caught up with sisters Marj Becker and Fran Campbell, of Churchtown.

Talking across the aisle of the black, white and red old-school diner they spoke of stories from their teenage years, caught up on projects Becker needed to get done at home and Campbell spoke of an exciting find at Sandy’s Bargain Barn in Waterford that day.

“We’ll always be separate towns,” said Scott. “I think it’s a stubborn pride but we like it that way, and I’ve lived on both sides of the river.”

She said she grew up going to Fort Frye, married and moved to Waterford for 30 years and has since returned to the home where she was raised back in Beverly.

“There used to be rumbles on the bridge, that’s where the boys would meet to fight, my dad told me,” she said with a knowing nod.

JANELLE PATTERSON The Marietta Times Diann Rock assembles bleacher seats in her store, The Rock Box, in Beverly Thursday.

It’s a fight and rivalry which Ted Offenberger, owner of Southeastern Dry Goods and Trading Post calls “a little goofy.”

“Especially with PSEO and students going on to take classes at the colleges, the biggest thing that river separates is the school districts,” he said in between petting the business’s cat Charlie, and coordinating installations for his main business installing security systems on Thursday. “Otherwise it’s a farm town with a river through it–and it’d be a long way otherwise to go to a restaurant in Belpre.”

Offenberger said there’s nothing particularly romantic about the bridge between the two towns, though he recalled when the original crossing of the Muskingum River afforded more traffic on Main Street in Waterford.

“Now it’s been passed by when they built the (Ohio) 339 bridge,” he explained.

That bridge went up in 1963 as a truss bridge, then in the 2000s was already under plans to be replaced when an accident occurred to collapse the bridge.

“I was brought in as a private consultant sometime between 2001 and 2004,” explained Joe Tucker, who now serves as Marietta’s city engineer but worked on the crossing between the two towns in private practice. “A truck had hit a steel truss on the bridge when they were already building the new bridge to replace the old one.”

And though the rivalries still exist on either side of the crossing–from covered bridge to truss bridge to the current steel and concrete structure –the communities, Rock said, are still family.

Businesses and Organizations serving the Beverly-Waterford Community:

• Adkins Timber Products, Inc.

• Air Heater Seal Company, Inc.

• American Legion Auxiliary Russell Chadwick Unit 389.

• Amy’s Flower Shoppe.

• B&W Painting Service

• B&W Pharmacy, Inc.

• Belpre Area Chamber of Commerce.

• Beverly Feed & Equipment, Inc.

• Beverly Lions Club.

• Beverly Masonic Foundation.

• Beverly Medical Center.

• Beverly Volunteer Fire Dept.

• Bob Pennock Properties.

• Brick Insurance Group/Nationwide.

• Charles L. Schilling, LLC.

• Christopher & Associates, Inc.

• Citizens Bank.

• Combs, Marilyn P.

• Community Action of Washington/Morgan Counties.

• Dietz, Futrell & Walters Insurance Agency, Inc.

• Dough Boyz Pizzeria LLC.

• DunWright Smokin’ BBQ.

• Dynegy.

• Edward Jones Co.

• Eye Care Associates.

• First Impressions.

• Fort Frye Local School District.

• Glenwood Community.

• Globe Metallurgical, Inc.

• Green Valley Co-Op, Inc.

• Greenleaf Landscapes, Inc.

• Haas Central Vacuum Systems, Inc.

• Haessly Hardwood Lumber Company.

• Harmar Place.

• Heartbeats.

• Hervida 4-H Camp.

• Hocking Tire Center.

• Hutchins, Bonnie.

• Jims Gun Shop LLC.

• John M Halliday, LLC.

• Juke Box Pizza.

• King Mechanicals, LLC.

• Laminate Shop Inc.

• Lang Masonry Contractors, Inc.

• Lang’s Flooring.

• Liberty Home Inspections Services, LLC.

• Lisa’s Sweet Stop, LLC.

• Lockhart, Ralph.

• Main Street Styles.

• Marietta Area Chamber of Commerce.

• Marietta Community Foundation, Inc.

• Marietta Health Systems.

• Marietta Times.

• Matthews, Joe.

• McCurdy Funeral Home.

• McDonald’s of Beverly.

• McFarland, Bill. – Wash. Co. Auditor.

• McVey, Ginny.

• Miller, Glen.

• Mincks, Larry – Washington Co. Sheriff.

• Moran Construction Inc.

• Morgan County Herald.

• Mr. Rooter of Wash & Wood.

• Muskingum Skilled Nursing & Rehab.

• O’Neill Senior Center, Inc.

• OSU Extension.

• Par Mar Oil Co.

• Peoples Bank

• Perry & Associates, CPAs.

• Pioneer City Auto Parts, Inc.

• Pool, Lyndell or James D.

• Prieto & Schott CPAs LLC.

• REA & Associates, Inc.

• Sandy’s Bargain Barn.

• Schilling Truss, Inc.

• Schwendeman Agency, Inc.

• Settlers Bank.

• Sherlock Oil Company, Inc.

• Sideline Sports Supply.

• Signal Source Communications, LLC.

• Skinner Firestone, Inc.

• Sons of the American Legion-Russell Chadwick Post 389.

• Southeast Ohio Transportation Inc.

• Southeastern Ohio Port Authority.

• Southern Local School District.

• Sponeys IGA/Ace Hardware.

• Stockport Mill Country Inn, LLC.

• Stollar Auto Repair & Collision.

• T&E Building Care LLC.

• T&K Auto Parts and Service.

• The Rock Box.

• The Witten Produce Patch.

• Trademark Solutions.

• Tri-County Rural Water & Sewer District.

• Vadakin, Inc.

• Varner, Molly.

• Virgil Huck Builder LLC.

• Washington Co. Behavioral Health Board.

• Washington Co. Public Library/Beverly Branch.

• Washington County Career Center Adult Tech. Training.

• Washington County Farmers Mutual Insurance.

• Washington Electric Cooperative, Inc.

• Waterford Commercial and Savings Bank.

• Waterford Tank & Fab.

• Waterford Township.

• Watertown Twp. Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary.

• Wolf Creek Contracting Company, LLC.

• Wolf Creek Local School District.

Source: Muskingum Valley Beverly-Waterford Chamber of Commerce.