Mat-Su landmark crumbles
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| The Lloyd Bell/Doc McKinley barn, December 23, 2013 |
Photos by Stewart Amgwert
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| February 7, 2002 |
It could be, in my case, more elemental, having my first memories of the day to day work that went on in the barn not long before offices and malls became our society's predominant work place. I can't tell you how Stewart Amgwert came by his love of old barns, only that his love is deep and abiding.
After years spent in stores and offices, I've never forgotten the short time I spent on the family farm in Missouri while dad, who grew up there, was moving his young family to a new military base.
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| December 31, 2004 |
I don't remember that, only the time, not two years later, when the barn became magical; the smells of hay and pigs, the motes of dust wafting in the shaft of light shining through the hayloft. The work that took place there. I was allowed to milk my first cow there, shown how to squirt a fresh stream to each of the cats gathered around.
It wasn't until years later, years spent in offices and high rises, that I began to wonder at how an old barn came to be, came to appreciate the craftsmanship, the durability. The appreciation that those old centers of the family were seldom, if ever, built by a family; but that each was the result of neighbors working together to build a community.
You might think that those old barns, so sturdily built, would stand forever, but they don't. When the farms they were built to serve began melting away, the hard work of the pioneers fell pry to neglect and slide into slow but valiant decline.
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| June 4, 2006 |
"It’s been sagging more and more over the years," he wrote with obvious sadness yesterday, "but it finally caved in the middle far enough to pull down the chimney."
Most people won't understand his dedication, or why I write so long on the subject, but others will remember, and feel history passing.
That old barn stood strong for nearly a century, sheltering many who helped build the Matanuska.
It stood its time and served well, finally outlived by all it made possible and no longer tended, no longer needed or much appreciated as much more than a curiosity of days gone by.
For whatever reason, people like Stewart remember, and thanks to him, that old barn will be remembered.
He's not the only one.
Helen Hegener, Northern Light Media, created a website telling more about this and other such aged and falling monuments at http://matanuskabarns.wordpress.com.
To see Stewart's unedited photos, visit http://nopeople.com/homepage/Colony%20Barns/falling_in/index.html.
Maybe the passing of that old Mat-Su friend will be eased somewhat by their efforts.
