Bayview gets a beloved bench

The bench is back.

Farragut State Park installed a new bench at Eagle Launch in Bayview this month, after community residents held a protest this summer over its removal.

The original bench, which had sat at the launch for decades, was removed by the park a year and a half ago over concerns that it encouraged loitering at the launch and posed a safety hazard.

Sheryl Puckett, Bayview resident who led the protest in May, had said that the bench was a beloved spot for community members to rest.

The new bench is 6 feet long and backless, Puckett wrote in an e-mail.

"I like the color — green," she wrote.