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We received the gift of this clock in May, 2016. It was made by Michael Zirpolo (Weston High School Class of 1972) as a 7th grader in 1967 from the wood of the Burgoyne Elm. That year, an enormous limb had been removed from the dying tree. Weston Historical Society president Harold “Red” Travis had it sawn into planks and pieces. For Travis and others, the elm was a witness to important events in Weston’s Revolutionary War history. (See our 2009 Spring Bulletin (pages 25 - 35) to learn more about the Burgoyne Elm.)

Industrial arts teacher Galen Green supervised his students in creating objects made from the wood. Michael received an honorable mention for his clock. His father found the brass clock dial and Zirpolo later installed antique clock works.

The clock was brought to the society by Michael’s sister, Michele Helgeson of Sudbury, who told us what it meant to her late brother and why he wanted the historical society to have it. Other souvenirs made by both students and adults have made it into the collection of the Weston Historical Society and are on display now in a case at the Weston Library. We preserve them for their patriotic associations and as a testament to those who venerated the Burgoyne Elm as an important “repository of memory.”