Conference 7.286::maynard

    A brief update on this subject.
    
    Mark Wednesday, October 21, 1992 on your calendars as the official 
    date for the 100th anniversary of the Town Clock.
    
    There have been two planning meetings so far, and although it's far
    too early to announce the details, plans include tours into the 
    Clock for Digital employees and Maynard residents, and a formal 
    ceremony on the evening of the 21st to commemerate the 100th 
    anniversary.  I have contacted the School Department (through
    Bob Brooks) to see if the Maynard Public Schools would like to
    be involved in art work, essay contests, etc.
    
    More later.
    
    Frank  
    
    

    As a previous "winder upper" of the clock (1975-6), I would be very
    interested in seeing if my name is still grafitti'd on the clock face. 
    Tours sound great, especially it you get to go staight to the top, to
    the trap door for the bell.  What an incredible view of Maynard from that
    vantage point.
    
    TG

    To keep this topic on everyone's mind, we are continuing to hold
    bi-weekly meetings to plan for the clock centennial celebration.
    
    We have developed a draft of the centennial week plans but I 
    will not enter anything here until we get approvals.
    
    However, Ralph Sheridan (Maynard's Historian) has continued to
    bring Clock related historical items into our meetings, and I'd
    like to share with you one item that we intend to have made into
    a plaque for the Clock Tower:
    
    			THE MILL CLOCK
    
    	Concord has it's Old North Bridge,
    	In Acton there's a monument tall,
    	Sudbury is full of historical sites
    	And Boston has Faneuil Hall.
    	Each city and town has its landmark
    	Something that sets it apart,
    	A building, a place or a person
    	That endears it to everyone's heart.
    	In Maynard there's a note of reverence
    	When natives gather to talk,
    	And their conversation is soon centered
    	'Round the tale of the Old Mill Clock.
    	There's a certain sense of elegance
    	In this clock within its tower,
    	And some liken it to "Old Faithful"
    	As it strikes the time each hour.
    	All hail to Lorenzo Maynard
    	For this gift that makes us so proud,
    	To our ears its akin to music
    	When the time each hour strikes loud.
    	We also give thanks to Ken Olsen
    	For the part that Digital played,
    	In preserving our clock for posterity
    	By the work on the clock that they made.
    	So when others brag of their structures
    	That bring them fame and renown,
    	The people of Maynard can revel
    	As they point to the clock in their town.
    
    		By Alice R. Hanson
    		August 1986 
    
    
    Regards,
    Frank

Just wanted you to know that I told my Mom, Alice Hanson, that I had read 
in the notes file that her poem was going to be put on a plaque for the 
Clock Tower.  Needless to say she was thrilled.  Ralph Sheridan had asked her 
for permission to use it during the celebration but she did not know exactly 
what was planned.

Thought some of you might like a little background.  Mom grew up in 
Gleasondale where her father was Superintendent of the Woolen Mill there.
When she and my father, Henry, were married they moved to Maynard and have 
been an integral part of the town ever since.  Unfortunately, we lost Dad in 
1989.  Dad was a letter carrier in the town.  He also was very active in town 
affairs and was Chairperson of the Historical Society for many years.  Mom was 
the Secretary.

Mom has been writing poetry as long as I can remember.  Mom wrote a special 
personal message for almost every special occasion in the Hanson household.
He 4 children, 14 (living) grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren will
treasurer them always. 

Mom worked in the mill when it was owned by the American Woolen Company and 
also worked for Bradley Container when they were resident there.  My husband
and I both work for Digital and have spent much or our "Digital" life in the 
mill.  Two of our daughters and one son-in-law also work for Digital.  In the
past our other two daughters and two sons-in-law have worked for Digital.
I also worked for Mutual Shoe Company, Bradley Container, Dennison Mfg. &
Raytheon when they were tenants of the Mill.  My brother started his career 
(30+ years) with Raytheon in the Mill.

You can see that the mill has played an important role in lives of the 
Hanson family and Mom is pleased to know that her poem will play a role
in the "Clock Centennial Celebration".
 

    Any new information on the clock tower centennial events?
    
    June Maki
    (native-maynardian, now living in N.H.)

Notices have come home from the schools announcing the event and the
student's participation in it:

Drawing contests (all grades); poems, essays, etc. (various levels).


Bob Brooks (the Fowler principal) is listed as the contact for this.


- dave

    I'll have a complete program by the end of the day on Monday.
    
    Frank
    

Great. My kitty doesn't go to school, so I don't get the news that gets
sent home. (BTW Frank, I've really appreciated all the information you've
posted here of late!)


Thanks and looking forward to the event,
Liz

Was your kitty planning on writing an essay?


The information sent home only dealt with the student's participation in
the event as far as contests go --- nothing about when the event was occurring
or anything like that.   I was noting that things were happening.


- dave

Well, I'm delighted that things are happening; I've had the
date marked on the calendar ever since it was first mentioned
in this file. And I'm glad that lots of different town members
are starting to get involved.


Liz

    As promised, here's the schedule of events as is known so far.  
    Announcements will be made in a few days in Livewire and Newsline 
    as well as in the local press and Cable.
    
    The centennial week will be low-keyed and dignified and in keeping
    with the Corporation's current cost constraints.  The week of October
    19th to 23rd is centennial week, with the highlight on Wednesday,
    October 31st, the actual date of the Clock centennial.
    
    There are basically four parts to the Clock centennial:
    
    1.  Maynard Public Schools-  Digital is sponsoring essay, poetry
    and drawing contests throughout the School system, to be conducted
    by the individual schools.  Digital will participate in some of
    the judging.  Awards for the top three categories will be presented,
    and a total of 18 awards are planned.  Tasteful gifts will be 
    presented by Digital to each winning entry.
    
    2.  Tours of the clock tower for employees will be conducted between
    noon and 1:00 each day, Monday through Friday of the week.  Tours
    will originate in Building 8A-4.
    
    3.  Tours of the clock tower for the community will be conducted on
    October 19, 20 and 22, from 6:00 to 7:30 each evening.  Tours will
    start from the end of Building 8.  Signage will be used to direct
    visitors from the main entrance at Main Street along the Millyard
    to Building 8.
    
    Regarding 2 and 3, comfortable footware is advised due to the rather
    steep and narrow stairs that lead up to the clock.  Tour groups will
    be limited to 10 people at a time due to the tight quarters in the
    clock tower, but we feel that we have an adequate number of "tour
    guides" to keep things moving.  We have no idea what the demand will
    be but we anticipate that a large number of people will take advantage
    of this "once in a lifetime" opportunity to climb up to the top of the
    clock.  I should note that once you're inside the actual clock, with
    all the clicking gears and such, you will be level with the clock 
    faces, and below the bell.  You will not be able to see out, since
    the faces have cone shaped covers that are used as light reflectors
    for illumination.  You will, however, finally be able to see how the
    faces become green and red during the Holiday season..
    
    
    4.  On Wednesday, October 21st at 6:00 PM, an invitation only 
    formal ceremony is planned for the Doriot Auditorium.  Jack MacKeen,
    Digital VP, long time Digital employee and long time Maynard resident,
    will be the master of ceremonies.  There will be various proclamations,
    a lecture by Mr. Dana Blackwell of the American Clock Musuem and the
    presentation of two plaques commemerating the event, one for the clock
    tower and one for the Maynard Historical Society.  Miss Elizabeth
    Schnair of the Historical Society will read her essay on the history
    of the clock.  An excellent video tape of the clock will also be 
    unveiled.
    
    Among the invited guests are the decendents of Mr. Levi Chaney, who built 
    the tower that is the base of the clock.  Mr. Chaney was a local 
    homebuilder at the time of the construction of the clock and was 
    commissioned by Lorenzo Maynard to build the tower.  Mr. Chaney and his 
    wife also go down in local history as being the first couple married in 
    the newly incorporated Town of Maynard (their marriage license is in the
    Historical Society musuem).  
    
    We hope to have the ceremony broadcast live locally over Cablevision
    channel 29 for cableviewers in Maynard, Stow, Sudbury, Acton and Hudson
    to observe the ceremonies.
    
    Other notes of interest:
    
    The plan is to place bunting around the base of the clock tower and The 
    Maynard Fire Dept. has volunteered to assist in this effort.   
    
    During the week, various clock related artifacts from the Historical
    Society will be on display in the Mill's main lobby.  We hope to
    display the School contest award winning entries along the corridor
    in Building 3-1.
    
    The Historical Society has presented Digital with an original set
    of hands from the clock, which will be put on permanent display in
    the tower.
     
    All of this is from memory at this point, and I might have left out
    a detail or two, so I'll add more details as they come to mind.
    
    See you there!
    
    Frank

    The winners of the artwork and essay programs in the Maynard School
    System have been determined and the winners and their parents will
    be invited to the formal centennial ceremony (Wednesday, October 21st).
    Invitations should be handed out at School on Friday or Monday.  The
    Graphic Arts Group at the Mill did the judging on the artwork and I
    understand that they really enjoyed the entries.  The quality of the
    work is so good that an attempt will be to display them all in
    the 3-1 hallway next week.  The various English Departments in the
    School System judged the essays and poems and the winning entries are
    being typed by the School Department and copies will in various 
    locations in the Mill next week.
    
    Tonight the exterior floodlights at the base of the Clock were tested.
    This looks very nice and really accents the clock.  I suggest that
    the lighting remain after the centennial.
    
    The Maynard Fire Department is scheduled to hang the bunting around 
    the base of the clock on Saturday.  We're all a bit nervous about how 
    this will be accomplished, but I'm sure the Fire Dept. will give it
    their best effort.  I know that I wouldn't want to do it!
    
    The tour guides had a meeting today and the number of people in each tour
    group has been adjusted to eight.   Employee tours will start at 
    Building 8A-4 and evening tours for the Community will start at 8A-1, 
    which is at the elevator.  There will be four stops on each tour, and 
    each stop will hold a tour group for about five minutes.  The four
    stops are:
    
    	Building 8A-4	Staging area, brief description of the tour and
    			printed hand-out (Mill brochure).
    	
    	First level	Sign the log book, see a model of the Mill and  
    			get a brief history.		
    
    	Second level	Display of early Mill and DEC products.
    			
    
    	Third level	The Clock itself
    
    After this, the tour group will go back to the starting point with 
    no further stops. 
    
    Given that the clock tower is not designed for large numbers of people,
    we hope that stopping each tour group at the above locations will allow
    us to accomodate as many people as we can.  We hope to avoid having
    to turn people away, so please be understanding if we try to push you 
    along.   If we do get into a large crowd situation, we may advise those
    waiting in line to consider another day or evening.
    
    I should mention that comfortable footwear is necessary and keep in
    mind that there are 128 steps to the clock, and that the last stage
    of the tour is rather steep and narrow.  However, everything is clean,
    neat, well lit and safe.  Since the clock tours began some years ago, 
    over 3,000 people have made the tour with no casualties so far!  It is 
    our firm intention to keep that record intact.
    
    Oh, before I forget, particularly for the evening visitors, remember
    that the Digital Camera policy is in effect, and NO CAMERAS are
    allowed.  The rest of the Mill will be off-limits during the evening
    tours, and evening visitors should park either on Main Street or
    in the Main Street lot.  There will be signs in front of the main
    entrance directing evening visitors to Building 8A.
     
    Once again:
    Employee tours are scheduled for Monday through Friday during lunch,
    and evening tours for the community will be Monday, Tuesday and 
    Thursday from 6:00 to 7:30.  Wednesday evening is reserved for the
    invitation only ceremony, which will be broadcast on Cablevision
    Channel 29, starting at 6:00.
    
    Frank

	Maynard Mill Clock Tower Celebrates 100th Anniversary 

  Digital employees, Maynard town officials and members of the Maynard 
  Historical Society will gather at 6 p.m. on Oct. 21 to celebrate the clock 
  tower's centennial anniversary.  As part of this observance, tours of the 
  clock tower will be offered to employees Oct. 19-23 between 12 and 1 p.m., 
  starting at MLO8A-4.  Comfortable shoes are required to climb the stairs. 
  Mill memorabilia on loan from the Maynard Historical Society will be 
  on display in the Main Street Lobby through the week of Oct. 19.

  The clock was a gift to the Assabet Manufacturing Company in 1892 by Lorenzo
  Maynard, agent for the company in memory of his father Amory, who founded 
  the company in 1848.  In 1896 ownership was transferred to the American 
  Woolen Company, and in 1953 to Maynard Industries, Inc. Digital acquired the
  clock when it purchased the Mill complex in 1974.  It is still wound by hand. 
  The clock was made by E. Howard Clock Company of Waltham, and was installed,
  activated and illuminated in October 1892.

  For more information, contact Joel Schur, DTN 223-5136

We were out walking last night and the clock looks awesome with the 
floodlights on it.  I strongly support the lights staying on after the 
celebration is over. The clock looks much more majestic (and larger) 
with the lights.  They help to show the detail that otherwise is not 
seen.  

I imagine cost would be an issue, but I hope that gets resolved and 
the lights will stay. 

    In case you haven't noticed, the bunting that was originally 
    planned for the base of the clock didn't work out.  
    
    When the Fire Department got up there to start the installation,
    there was a little glitch in the project.  When the clock was 
    refurbished in 1980, a band of metal sheeting was installed along
    the base of the clock where it meets the tower.  Driving nails or
    hooks into this metal band would defeat the purpose of the metal,
    and might create leaks that would be a real problem later on.
    
    The option of going further up the clock, above the metal sheeting
    was not possible, since the Fire Department could not get all the
    way around the clock at a higher elevation.  The positioning of
    the fire equipment could not reach anything beyond a 100 foot total
    span, and there are a couple of buildings in the way at certain
    points.
    
    So, the clever folks at the Mill, working with the Fire Department,
    dropped back to plan "B", which was to climb into the bell section
    of the clock and hang the bunting from the bell tower.  This was 
    done today.
    
    The exterior lighting has been noticed and very well received.  Keep
    those cards and letters coming for making this a permanent feature!
    
    Frank

    On behalf of my son and myself, we would like to thank those involved
    with making the clock tower tour possible.  We went on the first tour
    this evening and both found it very interesting.
    
    I have a "quiz/question" for someone...  In the brochure that was
    handed out there is a typographical error.  Did anyone else notice it? 
    Is this brochure still being used by the company (I think it has a date
    of 1989)?  If so, the error should be corrected before it it reprinted.
    
    I will wait a while to see if anyone else notices it before I tell
    someone what it is.

    Bob, thanks for the thanks.  I had a prior commitment tonight, and
    I'm curious as to how many people from the community showed up
    in the rather dismal rain for the tour.  Do you have any idea?
    
    I was involved in the employee tours this noon, and we probably
    had 50 employees take part.  We figure that we can cycle about
    100 through in the one hour lunch time tours, so if anyone wants
    to take a look at the inside of the clock, follow the signs to 
    Building 8A-4, which is where the employee tours start.   
    
    I think I found the typo, but I'm not sure it's the one you were 
    referencing.  On page three is this paragraph:
    
    "Amory Maynard, for whom the town was named, stayed on as agent for
    over 30 years and, except for one building, oversaw the construction
    of the entire plant.  When he retired, Maynard passed on the mantle
    to his son Lorenzo, who later gave the town the clock that has become
    its hallmark."
    
    Through the years, the understanding has been that Lorenzo Maynard
    had the clock built in honor of his father as a gift to the people
    of Maynard.  Most of us who were born and raised in Maynard have
    always thought this was the case, hence the reference to "Town
    Clock".  
    
    However, if that was Lorenzo Maynard's intention, it has never been
    proven and the Town of Maynard has no claim and stakes no claim
    to the clock.  The Maynard Historical Commission and the Maynard
    Historical Society  prefer to state that the clock was built by
    Lorenzo and presented to the Assabet Manufacturing Company in honor
    of his father.  If you say "Town Clock" to Ralph Sheridan, he will
    correct you and will use "Mill Clock".
    
    As for the brochure, the one we're handing out was originally printed
    in 1987, and reprinted in 1989.  Due to cost considerations, we are 
    using existing inventories for the centennial.  The clever folks in
    the Mill have added the special clock centennial logo to the cover,
    to make the brochure a commemerative collector's item.  That logo,
    by the way, is used on all the signage and invitations and was 
    designed by Joe Pozerycki of the Graphic Arts Group in the Mill.  Joe 
    is a native Maynardian.
    
    Frank
    

Frank - Thanks for the update.  As far as the typo I noticed is concerned, it is
not the one that you mentioned.  The one I am talking about pertains to a 
specific Digital product.

We were there right at 6:00 and there were 5 of us on the first tour.  When we 
left at 6:30 there seemed to be a good number of people present.

My husband and I went on the tour of the clock last night.  I am very 
glad we did.  We found it very interesting and enjoyable.  I would 
like to take my daughter there some day when she is older.  

I believe I found the typo you're referring to.  Under the list of 
trademarks, they list "PDP-1"  instead of "PDP-11" so, it's a typo of a 
missing one.  It's too bad that no one caught that error earlier and 
couldn't fix it.  A misuse of our trademarks can be very damaging to us.

I am pleased, however, that they were able to use an existing pamphlet 
instead of spending extra money on a new one.  It's just too bad 
someone didn't look it over first.  It's also too bad they couldn't 
have inserted a page with my grandmother's poem on it.  The plaque 
will be displayed in the tower, but unless you go there again, you 
won't get to read the poem.  It really is a beautiful poem and should 
be shared with the community.

I'm looking forward to watching the celebration on TV tonight......just
wish I could sneak in as my grandmother's guest.....oh, well, at least 
she gets to go!

I hope that any future tours of the clock are posted in this notesfile 
as I know other people that would like to go but are unable to make 
it this week.  I think it's something that should be done periodically,
if it's not already.

Thanks to everyone who made the celebration possible.

Linda (Pillivant) Silkonis

I also took the tour last night.
I _know_ that people from Maynard are used to organizing.
And I know that people from Digital are good. But I think
that the tour guides outdid themselves. Everyone on the 
crew worked together like (pardon me) clockwork. I found
people to be helpful, pleasant, knowledgeable, all while
they appeared to be enjoying themselves immensely. 
So thanks to the organizers and helpers and tour guides.


Liz

The typo that I found was made twice in the brochure.  The first time was on
the fold-out back cover.  I believe that if you look closely it says that the
first VAX that Digital came out with was the VAX 11/789   This is repeated on
the list of trade marks on the back cover.

I always thought it was the VAX 11/780   

    Minor glitches aside, I think that the formal ceremony this evening
    went quite well.  I was most impressed with Jack MacKeen's outstanding
    effort as Master of Ceremonies, and I made a point to thank him on
    behalf of the Town of Maynard after the program.
    
    I talked with Elizabeth Schnair on Sunday to be sure that she was 
    comfortable with her presentation and I offered her the use of the
    Doriot Auditorium for rehearsal, but she told me that she was all
    set and as you could see, she was great!
    
    To me, the highlight of the evening was having the Cheney family
    present.  When we talk about the clock, we usually talk about the 
    E. Howard Clock Company.  But we really don't mean the gears and the
    wheels that the E. Howard manufactured.  The clock to most of us is 
    the actual tower that the clock mechanism sits in.  This is what we
    see every day and this is what Levi Cheney built. To have 11 members of 
    the Cheney family (all long gone from this area) present to see the 
    clock, some for the first time, and to hear and acknowledge the 
    accomplishment of their grandfather, great grandfather, and great great 
    grandfather was the best part of the evening.  I talked to all of the 
    family during the tour and they were overwhelmed by the event.  It
    must have been a great thrill for them and I know that they will enjoy
    this evening's ceremony for many years to come.
    
    Frank
     
    
    Frank

I had the opportunity to visit the clock with the keynote speaker, Dana
Blackwell.   The tourguide at the top level may have felt a bit intimidated
by him, but he shouldn't have.   He was very impressed with the condition of
the clock mechanism and the tower as well.   He was also happy to see stairs --
he mentioned that many towers require you to scale ladders to reach the
clock mechanisms.   We chatted about a number of other clocks in the area
which have various interesting attributes (e.g., one clock in Boston is still
illuminated by gas lights!).

It was also interesting to see Henry Ford's autograph on one of the
reflectors.

I extend my congratulations to those who put this event together.  It was
wonderfully executed.

- dave

    At 8:30 tonight we finished our last public tour of the Clock Tower.
    Not everyone signed the official centennial log book (lots of kids and
    some folks who just didn't care to register) but the count tonight was
    a whopping 225 people.  From my recollections, there were 47 on Monday,
    160 on Tuesday, and 50 on Wednesday (the formal ceremony).  That means
    that 482 people took the tour and signed the log book.  I would guess
    that another 50 or so did not sign the book, so we're talking about
    well over 500 people from the community who took the opportunity to
    tour the Clock in what I believe to be the first time that the Clock
    has been open to the public.
    
    Tonight the crowd was so large, we had to expand the tour groups to
    15 (a very large number) to get everyone through.  The last 
    group was let in at 7:35 and we didn't turn anyone away, although
    we did see that some folks left the staging area rather than wait.
    
    After everyone left, we were all too tired to try to comprehend what
    had just happened.  We just sat down on the sign-in level and 
    had a cup of coffee and stared at each other in disbelief. I was
    stationed on the Whirlwind/Sewing machine level, just below the 
    clock itself, and I must have made 22 to 25 presentations in the
    course of the evening.  It was a tremendous time, and I really
    enjoyed meeting everyone, especially several Maynard Notesfile
    contributors that I have exchanged notes with over the years,but 
    never met in person.  It's so nice to finally put a face to a name.  
    
    Thanks to you all for making this a once in a lifetime event!
    
    Frank

    Speaking of "typos" there was a major one in Wednesday evenings program.  
    The poem that my mother wrote has the line:
    
    "In perserving our clock for posterity"
    
    Unfortunately the word "posterity" was changed to "prosperity", which of
    course changes the meaning.
    
    

    Was "perserving" also mis-spelled or was that your typo?
    
    Jim

    It was my typo - I haven't seen the program yet!  Mom told me about
    the error I put in here - The other was definitely mine!

does the fact that the floodlights are out mean they are gone for 
good?  Is there any chance of bringing them back, maybe from dusk till 
midnight?