Where there’s a will, there’s a way!
“If the pharaohs could build the pyramids, we can move this rock!” declared Bob Schmitt. He was referring to an interesting boulder that resided in the woods bordering Gartner and the upper parking lot. With a lot of thought and some muscle, that rock has been relocated to our newly landscaped main entry bed.
The attractive boulder existed in the woods for we know not how long, likely many years before the upper parking lot was constructed in 1988-9. Bob Schmitt and Joe Roop noticed it there, and thought it should be moved somewhere where it could be seen.
They have thought about moving it for several years, but this April-May it came to pass!
Bob and son Mark wedged it up onto some boards in a make-shift sled, then used a “come along” to pull it out of the woods by rolling it across fence posts. It took the first day’s effort to inch it 20 feet to the asphalt. Photo at first resting place.
Another day’s work moved it to the area between the woods and upper parking lots. Only occasionally did Bob push the rock as in this photo; mostly he used his car to inch it forward. Repositioning the logs repeatedly was labor intensive and made it a slow process.
The engineers, Bob and his son Mark, learned as they went! Next phase involved an improved sled and a different rolling system, with rods through post pieces. This eliminated the need to shift the posts repeatedly.
Finally, with some additional heft the rock was positioned in the garden bed, the sled disassembled, and the rock rolled into place.
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