Visitors to the Library may recall a magnificent sugar maple that stood in front of the historic barn as one drove onto the property, providing much-appreciated shade to the barn in the summer and a spectacular display of color in the fall. The exact age of the tree was unknown, but it is estimated that it was well over 100 years when sadly, due to age and infirmity, it had to be removed in the summer of 2018. Happily, however, a Yale initiative that seeks to preserve the memory of great Yale trees has enabled the Library to extend the legacy and useful life of its historic Barn Maple for many years to come.
Under the auspices of Yale Bowls, wood from the tree was crafted into an exclusive series of thirty-one hand-turned vessels, each one unique in size and appearance, each one destined to be gifted on behalf of the Library as the occasion warrants. Each numbered bowl comes in its own gift box, accompanied by a card that tells the history of the bowl and of the tree from which it was made.
The first of the Walpole Barn Maple bowls to be gifted was presented this fall to Nancy Rankin, in honor of her husband, Hugh C. Macgill, long-time member of the Library’s Board of Managers, who passed on earlier this spring.
by Nicole Bouché