[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 19423-19424]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                       VERMONT'S GRANITE INDUSTRY

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I would like to take a few moments to talk 
about a unique Vermont asset that recently gained national attention: 
the granite industry. Due largely to its versatility, high quality and 
immense quantity, granite proved integral to the early economic 
development of my home State and continues to play a vital role today.
  The people of Barre, VT, have been mining granite since the 1800s, 
when it was learned that the unusually high quality of the stone found 
in the town's hillsides was in high demand. This discovery had local 
and global implications. Granite from the Rock of Ages quarry in Barre 
was supplied to help construct columns in the Vermont State House that 
still stand today. Additionally, the art of stone carving that the 
granite industry created attracted skilled immigrants to Vermont from 
throughout Europe and Canada. In fact, both my grandfathers were stone 
carvers in Vermont.
  With its museum, tours, and even a sandblasting experience, the Rock 
of Ages quarry has expanded its offerings to serve as an educational 
and historical site, attracting visitors from around the world. 
Recently, the Timberland Boot Company visited the quarry for a photo 
shoot. They became so enamored by the community and its people that 
they ended up highlighting the area in a new line of footwear, noting 
that it was influenced by ``a 150-year-old granite industry that 
transformed the tiny New England town into an international destination 
for commerce and art.''
  I am very proud of the people of Barre for embracing and preserving 
the important history and culture the granite industry brought to 
Vermont. The recognition that the Timberland Boot Company gave to Rock 
of Ages is well deserved.
  I ask that an article printed in The Barre-Montpelier Times Argus on 
November 26, 2013, ``Marketers find Barre history just the right fit,'' 
be printed in the Congressional Record.

[[Page 19424]]

  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

         [From the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, Nov. 26, 2013]

            Marketers Find Barre History Just the Right Fit

       If you don't think the local granite industry has a story 
     still worth telling, try selling that to the folks at The 
     Timberland Boot Co., who turned what was supposed to be a 
     routine photo shoot at Rock of Ages last year into a 
     multimedia campaign that is very Barre.
       ``It's pretty impressive,'' Rock of Ages spokeswoman Amanda 
     Pittsley said of the newly launched digital campaign for 
     Timberland's high-end heritage collection.
       ``Originally, they were just looking for a rugged place to 
     go with their new line of boots,'' Pittsley recalled. ``They 
     were just hoping to use a panoramic of the top of the quarry 
     as an intro to this `mine' of products as far as their 
     industrial boot.''
       The photo shoot a year ago turned Quarry Hill into boot 
     hill for a day and a half.
       ``We literally spent all day carrying around boots,'' she 
     recalled of Rock of Ages' attempt to accommodate a 
     photographer and a creative director interested in making the 
     most out of a texture-rich setting that includes everything 
     from the frequently photographed quarry with its towering 
     derricks to rough-cut granite blocks and weathered railroad 
     tracks.
       ``They wanted different textures to show behind the 
     boots,'' she said. ``We were just going to be the granite 
     backdrop.''
       Or so Pittsley thought until she recently visited http://
abington.timberland.com and learned the photo shoot had 
     ``morphed into an entire product line'' that makes up 
     Timberland's latest Abington Collection--a nod to the 
     company's first incarnation as The Abington Shoe Co.
       ``The Abington Fall '13 Collection was influenced by the 
     people of Barre, Vt., and a 150 year old granite industry 
     that transformed the tiny New England town into an 
     international destination for commerce and art.''
       So says the slick website, which announces a product line 
     that features several styles of boots and a shoe ``designed 
     with the Italian sculptor in mind.''
       The site features a collection of historic Barre 
     photographs to go along with the marketing shots that were 
     taken last year, a couple of timelines, and a few video 
     cameos featuring Italian-born granite sculptor Giuliano 
     Cecchinelli.
       ``Shop the collection that Barre inspired,'' it concludes.
       Pittsley was impressed.
       ``You would have thought we went to them,'' she said.
       According to Pittsley, it isn't unusual for Rock of Ages to 
     field photo requests from fashion editors and companies like 
     Lenovo interested in using the quarry as a backdrop, but the 
     company rarely gets to see the end result.
       ``We're just a site,'' she said.
       Pittsley said she never imagined the sort of spread 
     Timberland came up with when the photographer and creative 
     director headed into Barre to see what they might find at the 
     Vermont Granite Museum and the Vermont History Center.
       What they found, Pittsley surmised, was a story ready to be 
     told.
       ``I think they were just overwhelmed with how much 
     information there was,'' she said.
       Though they can be purchased online, the boots said to be 
     inspired by the people and the industry that put Barre on the 
     map are available at only two Vermont locations, according to 
     the website: Maven on Cherry Street in Burlington and 
     Manchester Footwear on Main Street in Manchester.

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