My father is a tard.

I can SO see him doing this. This is from Scott:

This story was told to me by dad himself many years ago, so I'm not sure how much truth there is to this story. Anyone who went to college with dad can confirm (or deny) that this actually happened. Either way, I've grown up thinking it was true, and it's a funny story.

At NWMSU one of the traditions has to do with the Kissing Bridge. The legend goes that female students have to be kissed on the bridge before the first snowfall in order to be considered a true coed. I've never seen this bridge, but the NWMSU website describes it as "a small woooden bridge that was over a small, usually dry creek leading to Colden Pond southwest of Colden Hall"

Dad was working as a DJ for the student radio station at the time, which of course provided him the means to disseminate important information to the student body at large. One fall day weatherman Jim delivered the news to campus that a surprise snowstorm was imminent, and that anyone who hadn't yet fulfilled their annual Kissing Bridge rite of passage was running out of time to do so.

This advance warning spread across campus like wildfire, and suddenly this small, flimsy bridge was under siege from students hoping to beat the storm. A large crowd gathered on and around the bridge, which was not designed to withstand that many people and nearly collapsed under the strain.

Well if you know Jim at all, you won't be surprised to learn that there was no snowstorm coming. Jim had made the whole thing up, and sat back gleefully to watch the near-panic he had caused. The school administration was less than pleased that this prank had endangered a historical location on campus, and compromised the safety of the students.

I don't remember if he said he got in any trouble over that incident, but dad didn't graduate from NWMSU and the bridge was eventually moved from that location. I always wondered if dad's prank had anything to do with either of those facts.