Welcome. Edgartown News was born from the simple fact that I have ink and Dektol in my veins and I need to write and photograph more than I need air or food, and from my love for this little town where I grew up and raised my family, the town I have left a few times but can't quite shake for good. Here you will find the wanderings and musings, photographs and commentary; the people, places, and happenings - past and present - of a small island town: my home town.

Friday, April 29, 2011

The Town Clock Bell is Back

What luck. Good luck, that is. It just so happened that the town clock bell was re-installed on a day that I was in town; Friday morning, April 29, 2011, to be precise. It was fantastic to witness, too. The entire event, beginning with the perfect almost-May morning (following a few days of really nasty weather), to seeing some of the usual local suspects - on hand to photograph, ogle, admire, support, and report on this somewhat historic occurrence - to the precision with which the team raised the bell into the tower, was quite memorable. I even found the courage to climb up to the bell tower, something I had not done since I was a kid.

Related Edgartown News post, here

More photos, here




Edgartown town clock bell
Greg Blaine, the bell's restoration man.





Edgartown town clock bell
The crane approaches.





Edgartown town clock bell
Christian Thornton and daughter.





Edgartown town clock bell
Greg has unwrapped the bell, revealing shiny, newly-polished brass.




Edgartown town clock bell


Edgartown town clock bell



Edgartown town clock bell


John Anderson was in charge of restoring the bell's large rope-pulley wheel.




Edgartown town clock bell
A small crowd gathers.




Edgartown town clock bell
The bell rope's newly restored rope-pulley wheel.





Edgartown town clock bell
Greg and Steve Ewing talk shop.





Edgartown town clock bell






Edgartown town clock bell





Edgartown town clock bell
Readying the crane.




Edgartown town clock bell



Edgartown town clock bell


Father Nagle's porch offered a fine vantage point.





Edgartown town clock bell




Edgartown town clock bell





Edgartown town clock bell





Edgartown town clock bell
The bell will be carried aloft within this box and carefully inserted into the belfry.





Edgartown town clock bell
Doris Ward





Edgartown town clock bell





Edgartown town clock bell





Edgartown town clock bell






Edgartown town clock bell
Up, up, and away.




Edgartown town clock bell
Almost home...





Edgartown town clock bell
...closer...





Edgartown town clock bell
Ah...




Edgartown town clock bell






Edgartown town clock bell
Dicky Brown




Edgartown town clock bell
Gears





Edgartown town clock bell
Home again.

Edgartown town clock bell


Edgartown town clock bell


Edgartown town clock bell
Yours Truly, by Greg Blaine.

Edgartown town clock bell
Photo by Greg Blaine.

Edgartown town clock bell



Edgartown town clock bell
Greg Blaine couldn't be more pleased with the results of this project, or prouder to have been a part of it. Well done, Greg. I'm sure Greg's dad, the late Jim Blaine, who passed down his metal-working skills to Greg, is smiling down on him.





Edgartown town clock bell
The view down Main Street from the bell tower, to the court house, town hall, and beyond to the harbor.





Edgartown town clock bell





Edgartown town clock bell
Done.



Re-installing Edgartown's Town Clock Bell from Sara Piazza on Vimeo.

Thursday, April 14, 2011

A Pool of Daffodils

A poem by Alison Boylston Piazza.

Every winter, year after year,
We wait for signs of spring to appear,
As we struggle through wind and snow and frost.
But then, when it seems all hope is lost,
A fountain of forsythia spills
Into a pool of daffodils.






spring, poem, alison boylston piazza, forsythia, pussy willows, daffodils







spring, poem, alison boylston piazza, forsythia, pussy willows, daffodils



spring, poem, alison boylston piazza, forsythia, pussy willows, daffodils



spring, poem, alison boylston piazza, forsythia, pussy willows, daffodils



spring, poem, alison boylston piazza, forsythia, pussy willows, daffodils



spring, poem, alison boylston piazza, forsythia, pussy willows, daffodils



spring, poem, alison boylston piazza, forsythia, pussy willows, daffodils



spring, poem, alison boylston piazza, forsythia, pussy willows, daffodils



spring, poem, alison boylston piazza, forsythia, pussy willows, daffodils