Seymour Public Library at 161 East Avenue, Brockport, now boasts the display of a magnificent tree slab that tells local and global history.
About three inches thick and almost four feet high, the rugged slab has its annual rings tagged with numbers (see photo). The numbers are a code referring to the nearby timeline ledger, giving dates and significant events locally or nationally.
The slab was cut from a tree stump near the Alumni House on the campus of SUNY College at Brockport. The whole project is a major community effort by volunteers. The following people provided a variety of backgrounds and skills applied to the project:
Bill Andrews wrote the history time line that is part of the exhibit in the notebook entitled “A Slice of History.”
Gordy Fox made the pedestal lectern, which holds the notebook “A Slice of History.”
Archie Kutz is co-chair of the Brockport Community Museum committee on the slab project. He has been a key communicator and organizer for the project.
Richard Black has kept records and has taken excellent professional photos of the slab project. In addition to providing photography, he was responsible for the design, layout and production of display materials, including the historical information binder exhibited nearby. He is co-chair of the committee with Kutz who says Black “was instrumental in getting the project done.”
Buck Noble is an enthusiastic promoter of the slab display. He did all of the hard work and heavy lifting of the slab for the installation. In addition to spending weeks drying the slab and preventing it from warping, he spent many, many, many hours in his cellar repairing, stabilizing, grinding, sanding, sealing, and finishing the surface.
John Rombaut created the special metal bracket to hold the slab.
Library Director Carl Gouveia, and his successor Mike Boedicker, provided excellent collaboration and support for the display.
Charlie Cowling, archivist emeritus at the SUNY College at Brockport Library, was very helpful on the history of the college and the significance of the tree from which the slab came.
Allan Berry is president of the Brockport Community Museum (BCM), which sponsors the display. A Memorandum of Understanding between BCM and Seymour Library, May 10, 2019, allowed BCM to have the exhibit permanently installed in the Library. The project was completed in January 2020.
Lori Skoog is always helpful and professional with her photo shoots and did her magic with the photo attached to this article.
Mike Boedicker is the Director of Seymour Library and has provided generous help with establishing the display.
