EATON — The Preble County Convention & Visitors Bureau’s “Year of the Covered Bridge” continues next month, with a special dinner event on Roberts Bridge in Eaton.

The public is invited and registrations are currently being accepted for the catered meal planned for Thursday, Sept. 8, from 6-8 p.m.

“We’ve spent 2016 celebrating the county’s historic covered bridges, and for only $10, you’ll take in an evening at the oldest double barrel covered bridge in the country with a delicious meal,” Convention and Visitors Bureau President Stephanie Garrett said.

Roberts Bridge is the oldest covered bridge remaining in Ohio. It is the second oldest covered bridge remaining in the nation and is the oldest of the nation’s six remaining double-barrelled bridges.

“Preble County is known for our lovingly restored and meticulously maintained covered bridges,” said Convention and Visitors Bureau President Stephanie Garrett. “Having dinner on the bridge is an opportunity to take in one of the county’s greatest points, at Roberts Bridge.”

The Roberts is very well known throughout the world by covered bridge enthusiasts. “It would be safe to say that the Roberts is one of the five best known covered bridges in our nation. Covered bridge aficionados from all over the world have made it a priority to gaze at the Roberts’s unique characteristics,” retired Preble County Engineer Steve Simmons wrote in a recent column.

According to Simmons, the bridge is unique because it is a “double barrel” covered bridge, meaning the bridge is a two-lane bridge separated by a load-carrying truss in between the two lanes. The design is a Burr truss patented in 1804 by Theodore Burr, an inventor from Connecticut and a cousin of Vice-President Aaron Burr.

Spots are limited, so register soon for the evening out at Roberts Bridge.

For more CVB and covered bridge information, or to register for the dinner, visit www.preblecountypassport.com.