- In the fall of 2024, Vern Tower collected our horse trough from the corner of Elm and Main Streets. He took it to his workshop in Richmond. MA. Though it was very damaged, the expectation was that we would have it back by Spring 2025. It was not to be.
Tower was incapacitated with a severe medical condition. It required a serious, life-saving procedure, and a long recovery. During the same time, he suffered the loss of his beloved partner of 35 years, Margaret Hensel. It was a good deal to bear, but on a sunny day in May, we stood together in his workshop in Richmond and surveyed his progress. This is, ultimately, a happy story of recovery and skilled labor.
Master craftsman Tower found that the trough was cracked to the depth of its base in more than one location.
“They put the drain in the wrong place. It should be in the base not the side wall.” Tower explained.
When we saw it, he had repaired all the cracks that caused water to seep through the entire thick base of the rough-hewn local marble. The tool marks where the shape was originally chiseled out were replicated by Tower blending the repairs into the body of the 145-year-old piece. Tower’s repairs will be invisible after one last step. The color of the repairs has to be matched to color achieved over time – no easy task.
Once repairs on the trough are complete and returned to its spot in Stockbridge, Tower will turn his attention to repairing the original cat and dog of our famous fountain (what is there is a repaired replica).
The Horse Watering Trough, dated 1881, was fashioned out of rough-hewn, white, Alford marble. It was a gift to the village from Giovanni Albinola. Albinola, an Italian, was imprisoned in Austria for political reasons. When released, he settled in Stockbridge. According to a document next door in the Stockbridge Library Museum and Archives, Albinola gave the gift of the horse trough as an expression of his “gratitude for the peace and hospitality he had found here [in Stockbridge].” The words carved into the face of the trough read: “Merciful Man is merciful onto his Beast, Utility is Preferable to Grandeur.”
Wreathed in marble dust and a wide smile, Tower shows us his tools-of-the-trade. Two enormous saws suspended from the ceiling on a mechanism which lowers the blade as it cuts through marble and presumably anything else. One complex piece of machinery with diamonds beads along a cable is also for cutting stone (even if it is a sad use of diamonds). He built those himself. Later, at his 125 year-old house, we learn he repaired and stabilized it, built a wonderful kitchen and rebuilt the barn next door.
A happy story of recovery and skills put to use. Another happy thought: our horse trough, with Pan glaring, will return soon.
Carole Owens
- Tanglewood: An Origin Story, an audio book, is coming soon! What is the new vision with which Andris Nelsons did not agree? Is Tanglewood about the change radically? Perhaps now is the moment to capture all it has been. Pre-order here.
- Hannah Van Sickle Community Partnerships Power Hands-On Learning at Muddy Brook Elementary School
Students and teachers benefit from the generosity of local learning at Muddy Brook Elementary’s third-grade classrooms, driven by partnerships with three Berkshire-based nonprofits helping to bring hands-on learning to life.
“It has been a year of incredible growth for our students, and we have been fortunate to leverage several community partnerships that have deeply enriched our curriculum,” says classroom teacher Stephanie Kluka whose Team 3 colleagues include Dianna Lupiani, Vanna Maffuccio, and Maegan Warner.
“Throughout the school year, we have been honored to work with educators from The Mount, The Norman Rockwell Museum, and Mass Audubon… experts [who] have visited our classrooms multiple times, bringing history and science to life,” says Kluka, who provided details on each collaboration in what the classroom teachers dubbed a professional community “trifecta”:
- Literary Editing with The Mount: Educators taught students to amplify their writing by using the same “cut and paste” editing techniques used by Edith Wharton. This hands-on approach to revision significantly improved student engagement with transition words and essay structure.
- Social-Emotional Learning with Norman Rockwell Museum: In our second year of this partnership, we explored local history and social-emotional concepts through Rockwell’s iconic works, such as The Golden Rule, The Problem We All Live With, The Peace Corps: JFKs Legacy and The Four Freedoms. These lessons sparked deep discussions regarding equity, community service, and our shared freedoms.
- Scientific Inquiry with Mass Audubon: Students engaged in nature journaling, vernal pool observation, and the study of local habitats and adaptations, providing a vital bridge between our classroom science standards and the natural world around us.
Each partnership will culminate in a meaningful milestone: end-of-year field trips to The Mount, The Norman Rockwell Museum, and Pleasant Valley Wildlife Sanctuary—all hosted free of charge—a powerful example of what’s possible when schools and community partners come together.
- The Literacy Network of South Berkshire welcomes education professionals Jeanne Lemlin and Marcy Mann to its Board of Directors. Jeanne Lemlin is the James Beard award winning author of five cookbooks. Marcy Mann worked as a teacher and Developmental Psychologist in New York City before moving to The Berkshires. Both volunteered with LitNet as tutors.
