Northfield Mount Hermon School Rendezvous & Barn Raising
May 5-11, 2002, Northfield, Mass.
Visit the NMH site for more information about the barn project.
Special Thanks: Tools for the early stages of the NMH Barn project were on loan from the Virginia Military Institute. Woodcraft Supply made a very generous donation to the Guild Tool Crib to help keep this project on track.
Community barn raisings are powerful experiences, and the Guild and Northfield Mount Herman School extend an invitation to you to participate in this once-in-a-lifetime experience. Join us for any and all of the week ending May 11 to finish the cutting and raise a new barn to replace the century-old barn destroyed by a fire in March 2000. The original structures were built by students, and keeping with tradition, the replacement is, too.
 
With a desire to offer its students an out-of-the-classroom educational experience, the school teamed up with the Timber Framers Guild to instruct the students on crafting the 45' x 80' timber frame barn. Using traditional centuries-old carpentry methods and hand tools, the students have devoted many hours to join the 500+ pieces of timber together. The new hand crafted structure will be held together entirely by wooden joinery and hardwood pegs. The Eastern White Pine timber came from local forests and was provided by the W.D. Cowls Company of North Amherst, Mass. W.D. Cowls is a local sawmill and forest management company in its ninth generation of operation.
From the NMH Web site: "As Farm Program Director Richard Odman says, 'The project shows that we as a school have real respect for our agricultural heritage. The barn is the central point on any farm.'"
Festivities for participants in the raising will include barbecues and a barn dance.
Joel McCarty, Project Manager
Jack Witherington, Rendezvous Coordinator
Russell Ley, Safety Officer
Alicia Spence Hammarlund, Lead Instructor
Instructors Todd Bissell, Bob Smith, Donna Williams
Sam Kelly, NMH Student Liaison
Photos from the week's activities, by Joel McCarty
Our Hosts: Some of the people taking very good care of us during the NMH Barn Rendezvous. At far left is Lou, the sawyer for WD Cowls lumber, supplier of all the pine timber, and host for an excellent breakfast and mill tour on Tuesday. Left to right, back row: Lou, Guild member Jack Witherington (Rendezvous Coordinator), Don LaChance (of NMH Facilities), Paul Jones (of WD Cowls), Carl Hasberg (of NMH facilities), Evan Jones (of WD Cowls, 9th generation). Left to right, front row:
Bob Henry (of NMH Facilities), Cinda Jones (of WD Cowls, 9th generation).
Evan Jones of Cowls Lumber and new TFG member Kevin Brennan (of Michigan) work on the plates, two of many.
Up on the hill in the red barn where most of the winter work took place, part of the team bears down on girts.
Tent Wrestling: A group of students meet their match on a windy spring day in the Connecticutt River Valley.
Seven bents in this frame mean lots of pegging to do.
The red barn: bad weather worksite, and itself under repair.
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To purchase any size photo from the raising (from 3x5 to 12x18) in any quantity, click here. All proceeds will benefit the Guild's educational activities.
An NMH student awaits Sam Kelly's orders to deploy the commander.
Rick Collins (left) came all the way from Illinois to push us over the top.
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