Justin “Buzz” Massie and his 15-year-old daughter, Dakota, look off the 75-foot suspension bridge they constructed last year over the Sturgeon River on their property in Foster City. They built the structure, which Buzz Massie designed, as an easier connection to a nearby ATV trail. (Iron Mountain Daily News photo)

FOSTER CITY — The Massie home overlooks the east branch of the Sturgeon River, which runs fast enough to stay open all year, especially in this oddly warm winter.

The trumpeter swans have stuck around since fall. The Canada geese returned a few weeks ago. Their calls can be heard even within the house that outwardly looks like a classic red pole barn. But the river stands as a year-round barrier between the family property and the ATV and snowmobile trail that extend from Escanaba to Solberg’s in Felch Township, even on to Sagola.

So Justin “Buzz” Massie and others last summer put up a bridge, lit by blue rope lights, glowing enough each night to be seen by motorists who travel M-69 through Foster City.

“We get lots of compliments on it,” Massie said.

The 20-year employee of the Dickinson County Road Commission designed this private 75-foot suspension bridge himself.

“I wanted to get across the river,” Massie said, “so I just started drawing it up.”

He and a few buddies set the framework in place on his property in June. It took about four months to complete the span, with 15-year-old daughter Dakota working by his side.

“I was my own engineer,” Massie said, “and I fired myself about three times.”

But the bridge is sound and has all the proper permits. It’s held up by two parallel cables running the length of the bridge, with chains attaching the cables to the deck to support the structure over the water.

“The heartbeat of the bridge is the cables that go into the ground,” he explained.

The aim was to provide a connection to the local ATV trail that didn’t require getting onto the highway. Dakota, a sophomore at North Dickinson County School in neighboring Felch Township, is an outdoors enthusiast who enjoys deer hunting and fishing in the area.

They have named it the Morgan Bridge, after the Morgan Lumber & Cedar Company sawmill operation that was an early fixture in Foster City until it closed in 1923. While the Massies have only been at W2323 M-69 for about 3 1/2 years, both Buzz and wife Sarah were born and raised in Foster City, so they have some knowledge of its history.

At its height, Morgan Lumber had a company store, several company houses, a steam engine for hauling logs, dairy barns for supplying Foster City residents with products during the winter and fields for growing wheat, according to a PowerPoint presentation on “Early Dickinson County Sawmill Settlements” local historian William John Cummings compiled in 2015.

The bridge for now only is open to friends and family, Massie said. They’d hoped to get more use out of the shortcut to the trail but lack of snow made for scant opportunities.

Still, ATV season should be right around the corner.