Click on the icon at let to download a printable copy of the complete IPTW 2008 Progam and Schedule, or read a detailed description of each session here.

Granite Importers, was founded in 1971 by Jake Colgan, to import granite for the Barre monument industry. Granite Importers has evolved into an architectural stone fabricator specializing in cubic work, special moldings, columns, steps, coping, paving and veneer.

Barre Sculpture Studios, was established in 1985 as a sculptural service to the monument industry. Barre Sculpture Studios specializes in figurative works for monument retailers, churches and civic organizations throughout the Northeast US.

Trow & Holden, has been manufacturing stone cutting tools for both the industrial and art markets for well over 110 years. The first hand-held pneumatic carving tool was invented by Trow and Holden.

The tour is limited to 20 participants so please e-mail info@ptn.org if you wish to participate. There is no extra charge for the tour for registered IPTW 2008 participants.

7:30am - Registration opens at Vermont Granite Museum

8:30am - 10:00am - Opening Plenary Session
Don't miss the Opening Session and keynote presentation by noted timber Framer Jan Lewandoski - "Wood, Stone and Iron". 

Until recently the world's built environment was constructed almost entirely from these three materials.  The parts most beautiful and appropriate to human habitation still are.  Craftsmen developed their relationship to these materials to high levels in remote antiquity, and we struggle to preserve these levels of skill and knowledge today.  From his perspective as a timber framer, Mr. Lewandoski will discuss timber framing's intimate interaction with stone and metal and the trades that work them. Examples from North America, Western Europe, Russia and China will illustrate how the different groups of these trades have built together in the past.

Jan Lewandoski is the owner of Restoration and Traditional Building, a company specializing in the restoration and reconstruction of historic timber frame structures, particularly bridges, churches, barns and public buildings. The company is based in Greensboro Bend, Vermont but has worked throughout New England as well as New York State, North Carolina and the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec.  Jan lectures widely and has published numerous articles in professional journals on the topic of historic building technology. He frequently presently serves as a consultant to the Preservation Trust of Vermont, the National Park Service, HAER, and ICOMOS, and has recently completed re-erecting the timber frame and woodwork of a late Qing Dynasty Chinese house for the Peabody Essex Museum in Massachusetts.    2006-7 projects include church steeple restorations in South Woodstock and Craftsbury, Vermont, and the fabrication and erection of heavy timber trusses for new church in Lyndonville, Vermont.  He and his crew are currently restoring the bell tower of the Grand Isle County Courthouse and the truss roof system of a large stone barn on Isle LaMotte.

The opening Plenary Session will be followed by on-going 90 minute sessions beginning at 10:30, 1:00 and 3:00.  All of our sessions, registration and food vendors will be conveniently housed inside the massive timber framed Granite Museum.  Light breakfasts, snacks and lunches prepared by the owners of Sean and Nora's will be available for purchase at the site.

We're pleased that Steven Schuyler Bookseller will be joining us again this year with his book store, featuring new, used, rare and one-of-a kind publications on architecture, building and the traditional trades.  Be sure to visit the site of the Dry Stone Conservancy workshop and installation and ongoing Lime Burn outdoors on the VGM grounds.  This year as a special added attraction, Michael Robinson of Preservation Woodworking, LLC and friends will demonstrate the famous "Watermelon Trebuchet" heaving large seasonal fruits (and a few moribund circular saws) in excess of 200 feet. Click <here> to see the Trebuchet in action.

Sessions end at 4:30, leaving plenty of time to enjoy some of the outstanding local restaurants, coffee houses and gathering spots or take a walking tour of historic Barre before returning to the Vermont Granite Museum for an evening of community celebration at the annual "gathering of the trades" from 7:00-11:00pm.

Walking Tours of Historic Barre
IPTW 2008 participants are invited to join Joelen Mulvaney for a stroll down the memory lane that speaks of the political and social lives of Italian and other immigrants, as well as explore the richly detailed buildings that make up the core of Barre’s historic downtown. Joelen is the Vice President of the Barre Historical Society, former curator of the Barre Museum and Archives located at the Aldrich Public Library, and has been giving tours of historic Barre for 25 years.

The tour will begin on Granite Street at the Old Labor Hall, a National Historic Labor Landmark building and former home to the Socialist Labor Party, a building that was central to the Italian American community. Today, this building is home to the Barre Historical Society, mainly due to the efforts of concerned citizens who successfully petitioned the City Council to rescind a demolition permit for the building almost a decade ago.

Participants will proceed to the worker housing on the corner of River Street, then the Aqua Pura bottling company where eleven year-old Lena Galli lost her life during the flood of 1919 when the building exploded. Rounding the corner at Blackwell Street participants will focus on the workers and sculptors who made Barre the “Granite Capital of the World.” Pass by the active studio of Jerry Williams and the monument at Granite City Tool Company that engulfs the studio of Carlo Abate. Walking past the place where the Anarchist library and printing press once stood, burned out by an incendiary device planted by federal agents, tells of the repression of a political movement that threatened the political powers of the day after the assassination of President McKinley.

Evidence of the lives, political leanings, artistry, economics, commercial rivalries and traditions of Barre abound as you explore the city’s rich tapestry of styles from Classical Beaux Arts, Jacobean and Queen Anne Victorian to the Utilitarian Granite Sheds of “the city that rocks”, all while marveling at the distinctive architectural detail found downtown, much of which is uniquely fashioned out of granite.

A tax deductible donation of $15.00/person is requested to benefit the continuing restoration of the Old Labor Hall. Take a closer look at Barre and be part of the renaissance here that celebrates the trades. Tours are limited to 15 people, so sign up early for the tour at the IPTW 2008 registration desk at the Vermont Granite Museum. The tours will last approximately 90 minutes.

Tour Times:
Friday, July 18th, 5:30pm – Meet at the Old Labor Hall, 46 Granite Street, Barre
Saturday, July 19, 10:30am – Meet at the Old Labor Hall, 46 Granite Street, Barre

Special Video Viewing of “If Stone Could Speak”
Friday, July 18th, 7:30pm, at the Old Labor Hall, 46 Granite Street, Barre

The Barre Historical Society will welcome anyone who wishes to attend a viewing of “If Stone Could Speak”, a video documentary by Randy Croce. Thousands of stonecutters emigrated from northern Italy to Barre, Vermont, ‘Granite Capital of the World.” This documentary follows the artisans and their families from quarries, workshops and schools in Italy to granite carving sheds in New England. The show portrays the immigrants’ distinctive community … and their continued ties with their native regions. It chronicles the monuments of these master carvers, as well as their life and death struggle with silicosis. The story advances to the present, as stonecutter families continue to move between the two countries.

The Barre Historical Society will have popcorn and lemonade for sale. Tax deductible donations to the the Barre Historical Society will also be gratefully accepted to benefit the continuing restoration of the Old Labor Hall.

PTN Music Night at the Vermont Granite Museum

Saturday July 19, 2008

Saturday evening Askins Achievement Award Reception & Awards Dinner, 6pm All registered conference attendees, presenters and demonstrators are invited to join us for the annual presentation of the Askins Achievement Award at the Vermont Granite Museum. One master trades person will be awarded the Askins Award presented in recognition of contributions in the continuance of traditional building skills & their advocacy for training and the passing on the knowledge of the traditional trades.  The awards reception will include dinner by Divine Foods and a cash bar. The annual PTN live auction will follow the awards reception.

Annual PTN Live Auction

Please scour your attic, closets, basement, woodshed or truck and bring your donations for the auction. All items large or small, new or old, tangible or intangible are gratefully accepted! Be prepared for competitive bidding, lots of laughs and a real good time! Since 2001 the auction has been a traditional highlight of every IPTW, and one of the most important ways you can help support PTN. Drop your items off early at registration, or better yet, when you register on Thursday.  See Laura Saeger on site for auction details or if you would like to help.  Harpoon Brewery is the sponsor for the Saturday evening events.

Sessions begin at 8:30 followed by the PTN annual meeting at 10:30am.  The PTN annual meeting is an open forum for member discussion; meeting the Board, PTN year in review, announcement of the dates and venue for IPTW 2009, and plans for our future and beyond. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend.