I now have a Daneker "Senator" cherry wood Grandfather Clock.

by Andy Mick
(Pittsfield, MA, USA)

My father and mother acquired the clock in late 1965. The clock became a centerpiece in a house of loving parents with six children. Dad was really attached to the clock. He was the only one to pull the weights or adjust the time. I believe that my four younger siblings all suffered dad's ire over messing with his clock. The quarter-hour chimes became part of the background noise in a busy house. You heard them, but were never annoyed and in fact you almost didn't notice.

Dad died in 1991 and mother failed to give the clock the attention it had become accustomed to. The clock sat idle, in the dining room, for eighteen years.

Mother has moved to an assisted living facility and the clock has passed on to me. The dilemma for me was the clock was in Florida and I live in Massachusetts. I took the head, pendulum and weights off the main body and carried everything to the United Parcel Store in Bradenton, Florida. They packed it in three seperate containers and shipped it to Pittsfield, MA. From a pure financial standpoint, it probably costed more than the clock was worth to ship it. But to me, the clock is priceless.

UPS did things right and the clock arrived in good shape. The owner of Westside Clock Shop, in Pittsfield, MA, made a house call to tune up the clock. The years of standing idle were quickly reversed and dad's clock proudly stands in my foyer. The sound of the chimes reminds me of home and makes me smile.