Melanie’s Memorial Bench
The Bench
By Harold & Mark Hutchinson
On January 6, 2023, Mark said, “Tomorrow is going to be a sad day.” Melanie, Mark’s younger sister, died on January 7, 2022. Tomorrow, January 7, 2023, would be the one year anniversary of Melanie’s death. Our family, Mark, Melanie’s daughters Shaylah and Kiana, and Jean and Harold (Melanie’s parents), were planning to gather on the one year anniversary to remember Melanie.
As a little background, Mark and Melanie both attended Guilford High School during the 1990’s. Melanie was a member of the National Honor Society. Mark was a decorated Special Olympian. Melanie felt their differences caused challenges for her socially. It’s safe to say that having a Special Olympian for a brother was difficult for Melanie.
This is Melanie
As Mark and I thought of ways to keep Melanie’s spirit alive, we came upon an idea. We had an old bench rotting in our backyard. Jean, Melanie’s mom, wanted me to take it to the dump because it was an eyesore. My thinking was that we could rebuild this old bench. While restoring this into a memorial bench to honor Melanie with care and love, we could also redefine Mark’s relationship with his sister. My hoped for outcome was, a better than new bench and a loving relationship, better than ever before, between siblings.
Here is the bench as it existed on the one year anniversary of Melanie’s death:
Since I didn’t know the first thing about restoring a bench, I did what guys who are lost rarely do. I asked for directions. I learned that it takes a village to restore a bench. I hired my friend Chris Widmer, an architect, to develop a material list. His fee was a cold can of sparkling water and a serving of Cheetos. Then I hired another friend, George Gdovin, a building official, to ensure that the proper “imaginary” permits were secured and that the workmanship was up to code. The fee was a little steeper. It cost a cup of gourmet coffee, and a blueberry muffin.
Here is the material list from our “architect” and ”building official” and procedures to begin the restoration:
The next step in the project was the dismantling of the old bench. Screws, nuts and bolts were rusted. Mark bought me a snowblower for Christmas. The salesman at Killingworth True Value convinced him that I needed Snow-Jet, a non-stick polymer treatment to prevent snow buildup and clogging when plowing wet snow. I thought WD 40 would work better. So Mark insisted we do a study. Here is Mark holding WD 40 in his left hand and Snow-Jet Non-stick Polymer Treatment for preventing snow buildup and clogging of wet snow in his right hand. WD 40 proved to be the better product for removing rusty bolts. So it was used to dismantle the old boards from the metal frame.
The materials list called for Mahogany wooden slats. Unfortunately, due to Covid 19 and material shortages, mahogany was not available. We ended up purchasing 1” ’x 6” wood slats from Rings End in Madison. They wouldn’t rip the boards, but Chris came to the rescue and said he could do it. So Mark and I picked up the 1” x 6” slats and brought them over to Chris’ house. Here is Mark unloading the wood for Chris to rip on his machine.
Of course Mark’s buddy Jackson wanted to help. He thought Mark wanted him to play fetch.
Chris did an amazing job ripping the 1” x 6” slats. I thought he could just rip the 2×6 down the middle. A 2×6 is actually 5 ½”. So ripping it in half would have made it 2 ¾”. Chris said the slats that we were replacing were actually 2 ½”. So he ripped 2 ½” on one side. Then he ripped ½” which made the other slat 2 ½ inches with a ½” piece of waste. This is what I meant by saying it took a village to restore a bench. Here is Chris ripping the slats.
After sanding the irons and slats, spray painting two coats of primer, and one finish coat on the irons, and two coats of varnish on the slats, we were ready to assemble the slats. Here from left to right we see Harold, his friend Jim O’Connor, and Mark assembling the slats on the irons.
Here we have Briana Cagninelli, our technology specialist and primary photographer, and Mark attaching the plaque.
After completing the assembly, we scheduled an inspection by George Gdovin, our local building official. Here he is presenting the Certificate of Completion to Mark Hutchinson. Mark is displaying medals he won over the weekend at the Connecticut Special Olympics Games. In addition to being a master builder, he is a star athlete as a Special Olympics Cross Country Skier.
The Certificate of Completion has been framed and it rests on Mark’s headboard. Mark as superintendent, and I, as his foreman, want to thank Chris W., George G., Joe D., Jim O., Briana C. and everyone for their technical and emotional support on this Memorial Bench.
Kiana came home for the summer. We couldn’t wait to show her the bench. She looked at it and the first thing she said is “The grates are backwards.” I was wondering why it was so uncomfortable. So, with Kiana’s help, we took apart the back section, and put the grates in correctly.
The t-shirt says, “Never under estimate an old man on a bicycle”. I should add, “when he follows directions from his granddaughter.”