This headline is for those that recall when the Municipal Center was the town high school. A sundial was in front of the building, and the school's literary magazine was known as "The Dial."

A new sundial has been installed on the back of the Municipal Center. Designed and donated by Mac Oglesby, the simple and elegant timepiece uses shadows cast by the sun as rays hit a stainless steel rod. The tip of the shadow indicates the hours remaining until sunset, easily identifiable by markings in the face of the sundial.

As simple as it is, the project was a long labor of love. It began with an award, in September 2007, from The North American Sundial Society, the Sawyer Dialing Prize. Awarded once a year to a dedicated dialist, it comes with a modest amount of money to be used for a dialing project. Mac decided to use the funds to offer a sundial to Brattleboro. It sounds easy enough, right?

There was initial design work, and scouting for suitable locations. Once the setting and style were established, the design was presented to the Town Manager, the Alliance for the Arts, and others for feedback and suggestions, and ultimately the project had to be approved by the Selectboard. It's a town wall, after all, and we don't want graffiti.

Along the way, Mac was introduced to Steve Voorhees who encouraged him to take the original design - painted board with markings - and see if it could be done in a more permanent way, without tremendous cost. (Considerations for a sundial of cast bronze, for example, had been rejected partly because of the enormous expense to cast such an item.)

This led to a fortunate meeting with Rich Holschuh at Concrete Detail, a local artisan specializing in custom concrete countertops and other architectural elements, and through this meeting the design that appears at the Municipal Center was developed.

Many tests were done to find the right materials at the right cost for that specific location. A test of stainless steel revealed that it "disappeared" at some angles. Aluminum expands, when warmed, at a different rate than concrete. Brass or bronze would almost surely cause discoloration.

The best option is what you see - a molded concrete piece created by casting, mounted by stainless steel fixtures.

Not only did the casting need to be precise in terms of the shadow measurements, but lettering had to be readable. The team searched out a supplier in Texas who made rubber letters for cement castings and got what they needed.

The Department of Public Works got involved when it came time to mount the sundial on the wall. Rick Ethier was instrumental in getting it done right - and as you may have guessed, this also required precision. He and his fellow employees welded up a steel frame to hold the sundial mounting bolts, and fastened it firmly onto the brick wall.

Concrete is unforgiving so additional full scale tests were conducted after the bolts were installed to be certain all measurements were correct. A wooden template was used to guarantee that when bolt holes were cast in the concrete, they would be in the precise positions required.

Scaffolding was erected and on August 29, 2008 the sundial was installed.



After months of meetings and manufacturing it took about 40 minutes to put the sundial in place. Rich brought his son Jesse Holschuh to assist.



The final adjustments included making certain that it was aligned properly by adjusting the necessary washers and bolts, locking it into place, and installing the gnomon - the short rod that produces the shadow we use to read the sundial.







Mac says that he has checked it each of the seven hours it displays and it is working as expected. Townspeople can trust it.




(In the above image, you can see that there are just about five hours and 40 minutes hours left until the sun goes down.)

Sundials can be made more quickly than this, Mac says, and he has more planned in different styles and locations. Concrete Detail is considering one for their Cotton Mill location, and the Vermont Agricultural Business Education Center is planning a dial for one of their barns. Mac also has ideas for another at the Municipal Center of a different flavor - one where your shadow tells the time if you stand in the right place.

If you are interested in finding out more about sundials, you can reach Mac Oglesby at 802-257-0940, or visit sundials.org to find out about the North American Sundial Society.

Most of all, the next time you are walking by on a sunny day, take a look up and give it a try.

Photos courtesy of Mac Oglesby; BCTV video coming soon.