The Meadows Stone Project
Submitted By
Mister Stoneman, Dan Schroth Piermarocchi
In
mid-January my brother Mark and I finished building the
stonewall at the Meadows State Park on Rt. 4 in Northwood, NH.
We
started in Spring of 2015. We asked Steve Bailey for permission,
he said it was OK. We strung the wall 36” x 36” x 120’ in
length. A neighbor across the street came over from the Puzzle
Place. He estimated the amount of stone when finished to be 96
tons.
Without the stone we are but two men. But with the right stone,
a hammer and chisel, a sledge hammer, and level, a stone saw
with a good mechanic, like Asa Matras from up on Catamount Mt.
in Pittsfield, and with a tracer and handset for my brother, and
enough time, we can make the world more like we want it. We try
to inspire people the way we have been inspired, like by Arlene
Johnson who I knew as a kid and I still know today.
Anyway, this is what it takes to acquire 96 tons of stone.
Remnants of an old wall that was there gave us a little bit to
start. Then along came Tom Chase. He had a friend, Priscilla, up
on Sherborn Hill Road, who had a stone entrance she wanted
removed. Tom brought his trailer and we had it to the site in
one day. Tom let us scrounge his woods and pasture for
another load. Then, still in the Spring, along came Joe
McCaffrey. He had a friend, Gayle from Tucker Brook Farm, across
the highway and up towards the Ridge. She said we could take any
rocks from the woods or pasture as long as we did not touch the
stonewalls.
We
spent almost a week digging out rocks with our bars that the
settlers had left behind, and dollying them up a hill to a
staging area. Then, when we had a pile, up a ramp with the dolly
into the back of Joe’s pick-up truck.
The
job was getting tough at this point. We were wearing ourselves
out. This is exactly the point where I thought I should have my
head examined. After all, this wall project was my brother
Mark’s idea. I had told him he could pick out our next public
service job. He, being a hiker and growing up across the Suncook
River from Bear Brook State Park in Pembroke, well, it was his
idea.
Summer came and Charlie from the Town Public Works brought a
backhoe and truck across Rt. 4 to the farm and loaded and
trucked a pile of large rock we could not move by hand. After
two loads dumped, Charlie set the big ones for us with the
backhoe. This was a “lifesaver.”
At
the end of August, President Obama got “me a hip” and Dr. Fox
from Concord Orthopedics put it in. Again, another
“lifesaver.”
Bruce Hodgon let us pick through his fieldstone pile off Rt. 202
and agreed after the fact to let us take some loads of blasted
ledge rock and shims from his crushing operation up on Mead
Field. Dave Docko had been letting us take from some piles of
Mead Field rock at his rock pit on Rt. 4, but his supply was
getting low. My brother Mark spent several days stockpilling
fieldstone out in the park. Dave Whitcomb brought Murray, our
only piece of hauling equipment , not counting our sleds and
dollys to the Park. Murray is an old garden tractor that Asa had
removed the mowing deck from and attached a trailer Steve Bailey
had given us.
After the sixth load, one of the trailer tires started to come
apart. After the sixteenth load, the tire was shredded. There
are still three loads out in the Park that Mark never got out.
He plans on doing something clever where they are.
We
started back up in the Spring. UMAMI restaurant had some extra
rock from their stone project. Robert Graves trucked it up with
his trailer to our site.
The
wall was nearly half done at this point. Now we needed more
ledge rock to build and cap the wall. Gary Delisle from
Nottingham and Dave Whitcomb from Epsom trucked ledge rock from
East Catamount in Pittsfield. Dave dug it with his excavator
over the Summer. I bet they delivered 30 tons. This was big. Now
we needed more fieldstone to mix with our ledge.
Dave again saved the day by bringing a couple of loads from a
project he is working on near the ridge. The stone-faced house
is getting a new addition. Dave removed the old addition and
brought the fieldstone foundation to the site.
We
worked whenever we could through the Summer. Now I was getting
excited. The wall was over half capped and I could see how
beautiful it was going to be. People were driving by, honking
their horns, encouraging us. Also, the Park patrons kept telling
us how much they loved stonework and our wall.
We
had worked the ends of the wall with ledge rock, but now we
needed cut granite to finish the job.
The
Friends Of The Park, together with Doug and Janet Briggs of
Meadow Farm Bed & Breakfast, and American Calan from Jenness
Pond came up with the funds to get fourteen pieces from LandCare
in Madbury. I believe it came from an old foundation in Durham
and some old curbstone and Wala. We now have beautiful corners.
To
me, that is the most important part of a wall, and the most
difficult to build. You see, the corners will tell you how much
care went into building the wall.
Looking back I probably have 50 days into it. My brother might
have 25, but then it was his idea and I could not have done this
one so quickly without his ideas and help.
So,
you can see how many folks were involved in this project, never
mind the folks who got this Park started. Let me tell you, it is
well used. Thank you, to those people.
A
couple of projects we need to finish up. First is the culvert
end at the Pittsfield Ball Field up on Tilton Hill Road. In the
Spring, Joe Darrah is getting together with us to dig and truck
rock from Greer Lane East Catamount to the Park. It’s been ten
years at this site. Time to finish up. Also, we need to finish
the dam site on the cut-off in Chichester across from their
elementary school. We need to ask Frank Merrill for some eight
foot long granite pieces to finish the back corner that fell,
due to poor material.
One
thing about stonework is that there is always plenty to do. When
I think back on 30 years of stonework I realize how fortunate I
am to have had all the help in my life. I learned it is not
survival of the fittest, it is survival of the Cooperative.
And
when I wonder why people help and why we want more to do... it
is because we are not dead yet.
