So much of what we know about religion comes from the written word, but much can be found in paintings, sculptures — and needlework.
Famous tapestries hang in castles and museums around the world, but some of the most beautiful pieces can be found on altars, on kneelers, and in the vestments and hangings found in great cathedrals and in some small country churches.
Father Matthew Calkins, of Grace Church in Millbrook, is justly proud of the altar frontals, pulpit falls, veils, scarves and vestments that are found at Grace Episcopal Church. He recently shared with members of the church, a “festival frontal” that was found in a box in the sacristy.
“Unused for many years due to stains on the silk damask,” he said in describing the treasure. He said the piece was removed and will be remounted on a new frontal that has been ordered.
Grace has an Altar Guild, led by Director Jean Hayes, who along with fellow Altar Guild member Susan Nestel carefully brought out and arranged the many pieces, most of which are placed between absorbent packing and kept in a mapmaker’s cabinet with large shallow drawers.
Calkins said that the “festival frontal” piece was made by Erica Wilson and was her first major piece created when Margaret Thorne Parshall began the Grace Needlework Guild. It was shown for the first time for Christmas services in 1955.
The Thorne name is well known in Millbrook, and for those interested in needlework, the name of Erica Wilson also is probably familiar. How they came together is an interesting story, and a fortuitous one for Grace Church.
Parshall had an interest in fine needlework, gathering together a group of friends, they began doing needlework at her Smithfield home, calling themselves “The Ecumenical Group.” At one point Parshall grew interested in The Royal School of Needlework, and invited one of their graduates, Erica Wilson, to come to Millbrook to teach the fine art of needlework. Wilson taught needlework to the ladies, and the needlework treasures of Grace Church grew, the recipient of many exquisite pieces.
At the time Wilson was persuaded to come to Millbrook, she was sure she was going to a place far from civilization. In a 1973 interview, she said, “I brought a big trunk of my own wool, thinking I was going to Indian Country, where such things wouldn’t be available.”
One of a set of altar cloths and hangings at Grace Church, done by the Grace Needlework Guild which was most active in the 1950;s and 1960’s, even into the 1970’s. The current Altar Guild takes care of the items now, prized possessions of the church, still in use throughout the year.Judith O'Hara Balfe
Wilson found Millbrook pleasant and civilized; she lived and worked with the Grace Needlework Guild from 1954 to 1957, when she married renowned furniture designer Valdimir Kagan and moved to New York City. She opened a shop there, which she ran for 33 years and wrote nine books on various forms of needlework, had a syndicated newspaper article called Needleplay, and hosted two Public Television series.
Some of her designs werepublished by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Vogue. She gained the title, the “Julia Child of of embroidery” as well as “America’s first lady of stitchery.”
Wilson died 2011.
A third famous name, Marianna Garthwaite Klaiman, was contacted about the “festival frontal” after discussions with the Millbrook Historical Society and the Altar Guild Klaiman is a textile historian who specializes in the study of Anglican and Episcopal ecclesiastical textiles. She is currently working on sacristies of New York.
Klaiman has been a fashion and collectibles expert at Sotheby’s, a former costume and textile conservator and an independent textile scholar.
On Thursday, March 21, Klaiman visited Grace Church to examine some of the fine embroidered pieces, as well as some crewel work, hangings, kneelers, bell pulls and other items. She shared her knowledge of Erica Wilson and the Royal School of Needlework.
Although the frontal piece was the main attraction, there were so many items for Klaiman to examine — with rich colors, damasks, intricate designs, and patterns with silk and metallic threaded embroidery.
Klaiman was impressed with the items, and she was also impressed with the fact that there was documentation concerning the work.
“The needlework, aside from being beautiful when used during services, also attests to the services of the many generations who contribute to the legacy,” she noted.
Telecom Reg’s Best Kept On the Books
When Connecticut land-use commissions update their regulations, it seems like a no-brainer to jettison old telecommunications regulations adopted decades ago during a short-lived period when municipalities had authority to regulate second generation (2G) transmissions prior to the Connecticut Siting Council (CSC) being ordered by a state court in 2000 to regulate all cell tower infrastructure as “functionally equivalent” services.
It is far better to update those regs instead, especially for macro-towers given new technologies like small cells. Even though only ‘advisory’ to the CSC, the preferences of towns by law must be taken into consideration in CSC decision making. Detailed telecom regs – not just a general wish list -- are evidence that a town has put considerable thought into where they prefer such infrastructure be sited without prohibiting service that many – though not all – citizens want and that first responders rely on for public safety.
Such regs come in handy when egregious tower sites are proposed in sensitive areas, typically on private land. The regs are a town’s first line of defense, especially when cross referenced to plans of conservation and development, P&Z regulations, and wetlands setbacks. They identify how/where the town plans to intersect with the CSC process. They are also a roadmap for service providers regarding preferred sites and sometimes less neighborhood contention. In fact, to have no telecom regs can weaken a town’s rights to protect environmental, scenic, and historic assets, and serve up whole neighborhoods to unnecessary overlapping coverage and corporate overreach. Such regs are unique to every town and should not follow anyone else’s boiler plate, especially industry’s.
Connecticut is the only state that has a centralized siting entity for cell towers. The good news is that applicants must prove need for new tower sites in an evidentiary proceeding and any decisions have the weight of the state behind them. The bad news is that the CSC used to be far less industry-friendly and rote in their reviews, which now resemble a check list. There is an operative assumption at CSC that if an applicant wants a tower, they must need it, otherwise why spend significant money to run the approval gauntlet? This reflects a subtle shift over the years at CSC from sincere willingness to protect the environment toward minimal tweaking of bad applications with minor changes. The bottom line is that towns really cannot rely on the CSC to do all the work for them.
What CSC issues telecom providers is a “certificate of environmental compatibility” after an evidentiary proceeding (not unlike a court case) with intervenors, parties, expert witnesses, and the service provider’s technical pro’s sworn in and subject to cross examination. Service providers get to do the same with any opposition from intervenor/party participants – like towns and citizens -- and their experts. It’s an impressive process whose ultimate goal is the fine balancing between allowing adequate/reliable public services and protecting state ecology with minimal damage to scenic, historic, and recreational values. They unfortunately often fall short of their mandate – like approving cell towers with diesel generators over town aquifers -- evidenced by CSC only rejecting about five cell towers in the past 15-20 years.
The CSC was founded in 1972 and clarified its mission in the 1980’s to prevent the state from being carved up willy-nilly by gas pipelines, high tension corridors, and broadcast towers. With the sudden proliferation of cell towers beginning in late 1990’s, it became the most sued agency in Connecticut by both an arrogant upstart industry if applications were denied and by towns/citizens when bad sites were forced on them. CSC gradually formed a defensive posture that drives their decisions toward industry with deeper pockets and attorneys on retainer.
For citizens, nothing can wreck one’s day like the CSC. It behooves towns to protect what little toolkit they have, and understand the legal parameters of the CSC’s playing field. The CSC is not a “normal” government agency where municipal/citizen redress is based on logic and local support. Their process is largely immune to everything but specific kinds of evidence – like town regs with setbacks/fall zones, radio frequency transmission signal strengths, sensitive areas identified, and detailed wildlife inventory, among others.
There is a current cell tower fight involving two intervening towns -- Washington and Warren; both with good cell tower regs – over a tower site within 1200’ of a Montessori School, near Steep Rock’s nature preserves with comprehensive geology/wildlife databases that include endangered, threatened and special concern flora and fauna, on established federal/state migratory bird flyways, within throwing distance to a historic site capable of being listed on the Underground Railroad, and with an access road on a blind curve entering a state highway that will permanently damage wetlands, vernal pools, and core forests. There are well credentialed environmental experts, including Dr. Michael Klemens, former chair of Salisbury’s P&Z, as well as the former director of migratory bird management at the US Fish and Wildlife Service, and an RF engineer testifying to alternative approaches, plus three attorneys representing intervenors. It is the most professional challenge I have seen at CSC since Falls Village successfully mounted one that protected Robbins Swamps several years ago.
The hearing is ongoing, with uncertain results. To see what it takes today to stop an inappropriate tower siting, see Docket #543 under “Pending Matters” at https://portal.ct.gov/csc before removing local cell tower regs – the lowest hanging fruit that any town can possess in case it’s needed.
B, Blake Levitt is the Communications Director at The Berkshire-Litchfield Environmental Council. She writes about how technology affects biology.