Wednesday, April 25, 2012

World's Largest Chest of Drawers High Point, North Carolina The "Home Furnishings Capital of the World" is crowded with furniture manufacturing operations, pier wall bargain hunters, even a Furniture Discovery Center. So it should be no surprise that High Point has taken the lead in the big furniture battle with not one, but two giant chests of drawers. The original chest of drawers was built in the 1920s by the High Point Chamber of Commerce. The twenty foot tall building-with-knobs served as the local "bureau of information." In 1996, the building was completely renovated and converted into a 38-foot tall Goddard-Townsend block front chest. A real chest was used as a prototype -- it can be viewed in the Lobby of the local visitor information center. Furnitureland Bureau. Two gigantic socks dangle from a drawer, officially symbolizing "the city's hosiery industry." It's an impressive leap from the old chest of drawers, clearly shoving the big chair brouhaha into a dusty corner. So we have to wonder how High Point officials felt when Furnitureland South, way out near the interstate, threw up their own chest of drawers -- over 80-feet tall. It's not freestanding, and is an attachment to a big furniture store, but c'mon... it's twice as big! Since the fabrication technology exists, the next step is obvious. Turn every building in downtown High Point into a piece of American Colonial furniture.
Peachoid Water Tower It's rumored that in the early '90's, civic authorities ordered the Peachoid water tower repainted so it would look less like a big butt -- reducing rubbernecking fatalities on nearby I-85. It may be safer today, but from the right angle, the one-million gallon watersphere STILL looks like a bright orange butt. The Peachoid (known locally as The Peach) was commissioned to be built in 1980-81 by the Gaffney Board of Public Works, and contractors took five months to design and mold the steel. A seven ton, 60-feet long leaf was applied to one side. A New Jersey artist, Peter Freudenberg, painted the sphere after studying local peaches for many hours. It took fifty gallons of paint in twenty colors. According to official literature, the Peachoid boldly "sets the record straight about which state is the biggest peach producer in the South. Contrary to popular belief, it is NOT Georgia."

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Easter Vigil Mass

The scouts at Troop 143 made the fire for the Vigil Mass.