FAYETTEVILLE — Phyllis Bennett peered over the railing at the awesome sight of multi-colored parachutes billowing in the rain-laced air as jumpers gingerly maneuvered to the shore of the majestic New River roaring under the 876-foot-high span.

Each time a jumper took a flying leap, she whispered a prayer.

“You always say a little prayer when they go off,” the Myrtle Beach, S.C., resident explained, taking in her first Bridge Day spectacle.

“It’s amazing how they flutter down and land right where they do.”

Herman Bennett, the patriarch of the clan, surmised the jumpers prayed, as well, in advance of vaulting off the Western Hemisphere’s longest arch span.

“There was probably a lot of praying today,” he said.

“You don’t have time to pray on the way down. You better do it before you jump.”

Son Jeff was so impressed by the flow of jumpers knifing through the chilly air he plans to look into the sport himself.

“We’ll be back next year,” said Heather Ridelhover, another Myrtle Beach resident traveling with the Bennetts.

Others weren’t so eager to go airborne, however.

“I think it takes more guts than what I’ve got to do this,” offered Lynn Croskey of Wooster, Ohio, also seeing his first Bridge Day.

Ten-year-old son Chase decided he, likewise, isn’t cut out for BASE jumping.

Would he do it for $1,000?

“No,” he replied.

“How about $50,000?”

“No.”

“Not even $1 million?”

“No, no even that. It looks very, very scary.”

Mid-October took on the chill of late November, and many arrived in heavy parkas, gloves, umbrellas, boots and scarves.

“On the brochures, you see the beautiful sun and here we are in this nice rain and a little bit of snowflakes,” the senior Croskey observed.

Which explains why vendors had no trouble selling steaming cups of coffee and hot chocolate. A few brave souls downed fresh, ice-cold lemonade.

“I thought this might be an interesting opportunity to see something I’ve never seen before,” Alvin Smith, a San Diego native and now a student in Columbia, S.C., explained as the reason for his Bridge Day debut.

“Oh, no,” he protested, throwing hands in the air for emphasis, when asked if he would join the BASE jumpers for $1 million.

“I wouldn’t take it,” he said. “I still wouldn’t jump.”

But if properly trained, Rhonda Shealy, also of Columbia, said she would be willing to parachute off the massive span.

“You have to know what you’re doing,” she said.

“I like the fall colors. And I like the height of the bridge. It’s pretty fascinating.”

From Amish country in Millersburg, Ohio, Junior Mast was visibly disappointed in the murky weather but was impressed with the sights.

“The height, and it’s beautiful,” he said of both bridge and gorge.

“You look out and just wonder how it looks when the sun is out.”

Another detail didn’t escape his attention — the foliage was hardly at peak, with a lot of green remaining in the trees.

His brother-in-law, Paul Yoder, was attending his first Bridge Day, but the New River is an old haunt.

“I’ve been down here before,” he said. “It’s neat. I’ve rafted the river. Been on it a number of times.”

A daughter, 11-year-old Carolyn, clearly was enjoying the time but like others was willing to pass up $1 million to jump.

“It’s too scary,” she said.

Along U.S. 19, some 200 vendors set up temporary shop, hawking T-shirts and sweatshirts with special “30th Year Bridge Anniversary” logos, and everything from $1 flutes to jewelry to temporary tattoos, while food sellers offered a variety of sandwiches from traditional hot dogs, hamburgers and barbecues to various pastries in a carnival-like atmosphere.

Jake Heffner of Beckley strode down the “midway” with a hand-lettered sign, offering a pair of tickets to the late afternoon WVU-Marshall football showdown in Morgantown at $45 apiece — exactly what his mother, Krista Dunn, had paid for them.

About two hours before kickoff, no one had taken him up on the offer, even though Jake jokingly offered to throw in brother Connor as part of the deal.

Oldies rock tunes and up-to-the-minute updates on the festival were provided by co-owner Tom Snyer of Edmond radio station WQAZ, working out of a box-like structure resembling a huge mobile van.

Paul Wehlre of Fayetteville had no reason to gripe about the cold.

After all, he spent the day in a heated school bus, one of many in a fleet shuttling spectators and media to and from the bridge site.

“I picked the right day to do this,” he said with a knowing laugh, rolling up U.S. 19 to the Wal-Mart loading point. “This is enjoyable. I get to see and meet new people. It’s a good thing.”

Wehlre remembers the past when there was no bridge and residents were forced to take the treacherous ride down a snake-like mountain road at Fayette Station, sharing the narrow path with coal and log trucks.

“There were lots of bad wrecks,” he recalled.

“There was a working coal mine down there. You had to dodge all kinds of trucks. It was about a 35-to-40-minute trip. I had a school teacher who lived on the other side at Winona. I started to respect her after I grew up. She never missed a day of school.”

Armed with a chain saw, Bob Snowberger demonstrated his skill in animal carvings — a hobby he picked up after buying a log home in Columbia Station, Ohio.

“He wanted to purchase a few things for his log house and went to carving festivals and started watching them, and said, ‘I can do that,’” son Jacob explained.

Perry Scarbro, state commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, used his booth to pass out brochures on behalf of Sophia Post 4326 and to take up donations to help needy veterans, including those currently deployed.

“When we first came back from Vietnam,” the veteran reflected, “we weren’t looked at too greatly. Since the Gulf War, Afghanistan and Iraq, it’s put a different face on the Vietnam Conflict. People are understanding that the people fighting don’t have a choice where they go or what they do. They serve their country as they’re told to do.”

Standing on a small pedestal almost statue-still, in a red wig and white bridal gown, Jenny Stulck attracted a constant stream of shutterbugs — and $1 donations.

“I direct theater in foreign countries, in El Salvador and India,” the Boston native said as she scooped up a basket filled with bills.

What’s more, she said some of her time is spent working with high school students who made poor choices.

“This is for fun,” she said. “I make a little bit of extra cash. I’m a rafting guide, also.”

— E-mail: mannix@register-herald.com