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.
Showing posts with label Doris Ward. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Doris Ward. Show all posts

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.

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

It's (almost) Crocus Time Again

No pictures this time, though I sure wish I had thought to get a shot of Barry Nevin and Tommy Bassett, whom I met at the post office on Monday afternoon (the three of us were partners in crime back in junior high - don't ask), as well as Doris Ward, Sally Snipes, and Abby Leighton down at the thrift shop on Tuesday.

For some reason, except for a few shots of East Chop Light, which caught my fancy on Monday afternoon, and a little photo/video session with the new grand-babe (now nearly five weeks old) on Tuesday, the camera mostly stayed right in my bag.

But it was a great couple of days in town this week - highlighted by my first baby-sitting session with the new wee-one, which included a walk around town, with Ethan snuggled into the Moby-wrap, just as I used to carry his daddy and uncle and aunt in the carrier of those days, an orange corduroy Snugli; seems like five minutes ago, and a fun "MTV" movie-making session: Sing-along with Grammie, starring Ethan and grammie.

I was reminded by my friend James, who walks past my house often and knows the story of my mother's crocii, when he mentioned last week that he had seen them starting to poke their heads up, that it was time to get out there and clean up the winter debris from the front lawn, which I managed to get done yesterday in my final moments before heading back "off". There's something wonderfully satisfying about that first raking session of the season; getting the large muscle group working after so many months' dormancy, plus seeing and smelling the dirt again, and seeing all those tender, pale green shoots starting to break through. Wonderful. And considering the nature of this chore - providing my mother's sea of purple and white crocii (that started with maybe a dozen bulbs she through intp the ground in the front yard, circa 1990) a clear, clean area in which to burst forth in all their glory, which they do every year the exact week of the anniversary of her death - it's one I hardly mind. In fact, it's a joy.