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Jeannie Benoit of the Aspinock Historical Society of Putnam, left, and artist Elaine Turner unveil the sheep in Rotary Park.
This side of the sheep shows what the Putnam Woolen mill might have looked like in the 1800s. It stood where Cargill Falls Mill is now. More photos Wed. night at FB: Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger.
One side of the sheep shows what the carding room might have looked like at the Putnam Woolen mill. Linda Lemmon photos.
By Linda Lemmon
Town Crier Editor
PUTNAM — From the town’s newest art installation, a wool sheep statue, it’s almost like an invisible strand of yarn crosses the Quinebaug — and the years — and connects to the former Putnam Woolen mill and Putnam’s textile history.
The statue, unveiled Nov. 25 in Rotary Park, began with Jeannie Benoit and the Aspinock Historical Society of Putnam months ago. Benoit said she had visited the Samuel Slater Experience museum in Webster and found out about the blank fiberglass Merino wool sheep statues that were being sold. Organizations and businesses bought the statues, had them custom painted and placed around Webster, Dudley and Oxford and beyond.
Benoit thought, considering Putnam’s textile history, that a sheep statue would make an excellent addition to the town’s burgeoning art displays. Parks and Recreation Department Director Willie Bousquet was enthusiastically behind the idea.
The total cost was about $4,000. The main sponsors are the Putnam Area Foundation and WIN Waste Innovations. Bousquet added that the town’s Public Works Department did some in-kind work including removing the old bell stand in Rotary Park and pouring a concrete base for the sheep. The Putnam Recreation Department was also involved in the project.
Elaine Turner of the Art Guild Northeast was asked by former Aspinock society president Bill Pearsall if she would be interested in customizing Putnam’s statue.
The effort started six-plus months ago. She thought since it was a Merino wool sheep statue that it made sense to tell Putnam’s story of wool. What is now Cargill Falls Mill was at one time a woolen mill, Putnam Woolen.
“It was a team effort,” Turner said. The committee worked together to come up with a design that best represented Putnam’s history. Turner said that Benoit asked about including carding machines. Being an Aspinock Historical Society project made things handy — blueprints, maps, descriptions, photos and more of the Putnam Woolen mill were right there.
“As a committee, we put it all together,” Turner said. “We told the story of the woolen mill over the years.”
Resident artist Dave Laab approved the design and Turner created it in her home studio. She had to finish early as Laab needed two weeks to put three layers of protective automotive coating on the statue. Turner said she could not use latex paint, she had to use acrylic.
A Nebraska company, Icon Poly, made 25 sheep for the Samuel Slater Experience museum in Webster. The sheep are made with fiberglass with polyurethane-binding resins which makes them durable. “Slater’s Sheep” are a community art project and a fund-raiser for the Samuel Slater Experience. Mill owner Slater is associated with textiles and because he established the first woolen mill in America, the museum picked a sheep.
At the dedication Nov. 25, Benoit said two plaques are still on the way. One describes the history of the mills and Merino sheep and the other describes the time capsule that shares the spot in Rotary Park with the sheep. That capsule will be opened in 2055.
Turner said she found herself inspired by the project. “Putnam always comes up with a way to celebrate its history, the seasons,” she said.
And there’s a wool tie that binds.
more photos on FB: Putnam Town Crier & Northeast Ledger
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