Snyder is 150 millionth person to cross Mackinac Bridge
September 6th, long-time Clare resident Richard Snyder was honored for being the 150 millionth person to cross the Mackinac Bridge. According to the Mackinac Bridge Authority, the five-mile-long span between the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan, took three and one-half years to build and opened to traffic on November 1, 1957. It is the third longest suspension bridge in the world. The 100 millionth crossing was on June 25, 1998.
Snyder, who received gifts and pictures from the Bridge Authority and Mackinaw City, was also honored by McGuire Chevrolet, who congratulated him and presented him with a year’s worth of oil changes for “Seeing the USA in his Chevrolet.”
He is a former principal of Clare High School (1959-1962), lived in Toledo for three years and returned and was Clare School Superintendent from 1965 to 1978. He was Superintendent in East Jackson from 1978 to 1984 then retired and moved back to Clare in 1998. He is a member of the Clare Lions Club and has been a generous doner to the Clare area. Snyder and his wife of 58 years Pat are parents of Dr. Gail Schepperley, Richard Snyder and Cathryn Loeb and grandparents to Sarah, Katie, Tricia, Steven Wolfe, Jeremy, Carolyn, Rebecca Loeb, Kate and Jack Snyder.
