Biking, business, bridges and bluegrass converged on Saturday night as supporters of the Mattapoisett Bike Path came together at How on Earth.

Friends of the Mattapoisett Bike Path recently launched the Bike Friendly Business program to simultaneously support local businesses and cycling in the community.

“Right now it’s about making many facets of Mattapoisett ‘bike friendly,’ a big part of which is getting the bike path built, so that people can have a route from Mattapoisett center to Fairhaven that does not include Route 6,” said Bonne DeSousa, who spearheaded the program.

Light fare and music by bluegrass trio Four Bridges were on the menu for Bike Night as diners got to learn more about local biking initiatives. The group also heard from Mattapoisett Bike Path committee member Dave Jenney, who built a series of bridges across Eel Pond near the area that the rail trail will eventually cross.

Jenney, a former marathon runner, built the first of 13 bridges in 1996.

“It was a favorite walking and jogging path from here to Fairhaven,” said Jenney.

A select few knew the mastermind behind the bridges, but for most, the origin of the marshland crossing was a mystery.

That was one reason why DeSousa invited Jenney to the Bike Night.

“People wanted to know who built that bridge,” she said.

Hurricane Bob opened up a channel that gradually hindered runners and bikers on the popular path.

“It kept getting wider and wider until you couldn’t jump it anymore,” said the bridge builder.

The first bridge was eight feet and the second one 12 feet, Jenney said. The last bridge was 33 feet and built in 2010. At about one foot wide, the bridges swayed more the longer they got and likely landed more than one person in the water.

“An awful lot of people used it,” said Jenney.

A helicopter engineer for 40 years, Jenney said the simple footbridges were pretty easy to build on his own. Eventually, however, Jenney needed help as the structures exceeded 20 feet. A number of people from the community helped construct new bridges that each became too short for the widening channel.

But what finally did in the bridges, said Jenney, was multiple vandalisms that destroyed the structures.

In the not too distant future, bike path advocates hope a new, approved and improved bridge can be built across Eel Pond.

At the May 12 Town Meeting, voters will be asked to help fund the rail trail’s extension from Mattapoisett Neck Road to Depot Street, crossing near Jenney’s set of bridges and again offering bikers and runners a scenic path from the village to Fairhaven.

For more information, visit mattapoisettrailtrail.org.