Dawn and Robert Hanson drove to a Rainbow Bridge in Lake Lure, North Carolina to honor their Boston Terriers — Kaysar and Baker — who died in 2018 and 2023, respectively. The Greenfield couple hung the dogs’ collars on the bridge in March.
GREENFIELD – Hancock County will soon have its own Rainbow Bridge, a place where pet owners can memorialize their beloved pets.
A Rainbow Bridge is a mythical concept of a bridge that connects heaven and earth, where deceased pets wait to be reunited with their owners. The concept is a source of comfort for many who have lost a pet, and is often used as a way to cope with grief.
Based on an online search, actual Rainbow Bridges aren’t as common as pet lovers may think.
Dawn Hanson of Greenfield drove to such a bridge in North Carolina in March to commemorate her two Boston Terriers, one of whom died in 2018 and the other in late 2023. It was the closest one she found in an online search.
Hanson was so moved by the experience, she passed the idea of the Rainbow Bridge to the Greenfield Parks Department when she returned home.
Assistant parks director Julie Patterson, a fellow dog lover, loved the idea and quickly got enthusiastic approval for the project from the parks board and staff.
The department is now raising funds to build a Rainbow Bridge to the north of Rover’s Run Bark Park in Beckenholdt Park.
Hanson will go before the Hancock County Tourism board on Tuesday to request funding for the project.
She guesses it will take about $5,000 to construct the rainbow-colored wooden bridge, which will serve as a place for bereaved pet owners to hang the collars and tags of their pets.
Hanson said she and her husband, Robert, were overwhelmed by the sense of healing they felt after visiting the Rainbow Bridge in Lake Lure, N.C., four months after the sudden death of their dog Baker.
“We were caught off guard when he died, it was really hard, but when we placed his collar (on the bridge) that’s when the healing began,” Hanson recalled.
She takes comfort in knowing her latest two beloved pets will be memorialized even after she’s gone.
“I know I left (their collars) somewhere with love and purpose. It just meant a lot to me that they were with other dogs. It was a special thing,” she said.
Patterson said Greenfield’s bridge will be called Baker’s Rainbow Bridge in the honor of Hanson’s beloved pet. Hanson lost her other Boston Terrier, Kaysar, in 2018.
The local bridge will be modeled after the bridge the Hansons visited in North Carolina, which is adorned with countless collars and dogs from pets who have crossed the proverbial Rainbow Bridge but live on in their owners’ hearts.
Patterson, who once buried her golden retriever’s cremains under a dogwood tree, understands the desire to memorialize beloved pets.
The local Rainbow Bridge will be a perfect place to honor all types of pets, she said, not necessarily just dogs and cats.
The public will be able to hang collars and tags on the bridge, as has been done in North Carolina.
Those who donate to the fundraising effort can also have their late pet’s image or name included in a mural to be painted by Greenfield-Central High School art teacher Lisa Sears.
Patterson said the parks department hopes to raise enough funds to not only build the bridge but market it to a regional audience.
“One of the larger concerns is marketing it and letting people know it’s here. It (will be) the only one in the Midwest,” said Patterson, who is spreading the word locally through pet stores, veterinary offices and rescue organizations.
With actual Rainbow Bridges being so rare, she anticipates that pet lovers will drive for miles around, just as Hanson and her husband made the nearly eight-hour trek North Carolina.
“We know it might bring people in from all over the place, so it could make an economic impact,” said Patterson. “Dawn went to North Carolina to commemorate her dog Baker and ate at their restaurants and stayed in a hotel, so we’re thinking people will do the same here and hopefully also visit our parks. It’s a win from so many angles.”
Hanson said she and her husband found their trip to the Rainbow Bridge in North Carolina so healing, they were able to open their hearts to another dog earlier this year – Aggie – a Mini Aussiedoodle that’s part of a litter being trained to serve as therapy dogs in the Greenfield-Central schools.
“When we first lost (Baker) I honestly thought we would not get another one because the heartache was so awful,” said Hanson, Greenfield-Central’s director of health services. “However, I think one day it just clicked that our lives are most definitely better with a dog.”
To learn more about contributing to the Rainbow Bridge project at Beckenholdt Park, visit parksingreenfield.com/rainbow-bridge.
Donors giving $300 can have one animal’s face and name painted on the mural. Those who give $150 can have one animal’s full name and dates painted on the mural. Donors gifting $75 can have one animal’s first name painted on the mural, while those gifting $50 can have one animal’s name and dates read on opening day.
All donors from the above levels will have the opportunity to be among the first to place their pet’s collar and tag on the bridge during opening day if they wish to do so.
Hanson said donations of any dollar amount are welcome to help support the project, and are tax deductible.
Checks should be made payable to Greenfield Parks and Recreation, with the memo indicating the donation is intended for Baker’s Rainbow Bridge. The Parks Department is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and can take cash and credit/debit card payments in the office. Checks may be dropped off or mailed to: Greenfield Parks and Recreation, 28o Apple Street, Greenfield, Indiana 46140.
For more information, email Hanson at [email protected].
