WARWICK — The first time Clyde Perkins Jr. ventured into the clock tower at the Unitarian Meeting House was in the late 1970s, accompanied by then-clock winder A. George Day Jr., he remembers being in awe over the clock’s complex mechanisms, and over the amplified sound of the bell ringing at the top of the hour.
But Perkins never thought he would be the clock’s caretaker one day. After Day’s retirement this summer following 50 years of service, Perkins became the new clock winder.
Because Perkins, now 62, has lived in Warwick’s town center since he was 3, ensuring the tradition of having the clock keep time for residents is very near to his heart. In fact, he remembers hearing it chime as a child.
“It’s such a part of life in the center of town,” he said. “It’s just one of those things that’s always there … It’s something that’s precious and you want to make sure (the clock is) kept up and properly maintained.”
Becoming clock winder seemed like the perfect job for Perkins, who’s been interested in clocks since he was a teenager and built his own grandfather clock in his shop class at Pioneer Valley Regional School, even though he was given the option to build a hope chest or a pine hutch.
“(My teacher) said ‘No, you can’t build a clock, it’s too difficult,’” Perkins recalled. “When he saw the plans, he said ‘Oh yeah, you could totally do this.’”
Woodworking, in general, is a passion for Perkins, who’s retiring from Michael Humphries Woodworking. The grandfather clock wasn’t the only clock he made.
“I’ve built several small clocks, many with key-wind mechanisms,” he continued. “I understand how they work and how to take care of them.”
So when Perkins learned Day was retiring, he inquired about the position, and was appointed by the Selectboard in late June. However, when Perkins fell at home and broke his heel on Aug. 12, Day filled in for him, as he will in the event of Perkins’ absence. Perkins said once he gets more settled, he plans to train resident Olivier Flagollet to be a fill-in, too.
Though he still wears a brace on his right foot, Perkins has resumed his duties as clock winder. Once a week, Perkins walks from his home just a few buildings down from the Unitarian Meeting House on Orange Road and climbs the dark steps to the small room where the clock’s mechanism — an elaborate green piece of machinery, with gold-colored letters reading “E. Howard & Co., Boston, Mass” embossed on the side — is housed.
“I’m still learning how to maneuver up here so I can do it without a flashlight,” Perkins said, referencing how Day could navigate the steps in the dark. “Watching George go up there is still amazing.”
Once there, he cranks up two separate boxes of rocks. Gravity pulling on the weights powers the clockworks. One box, which weighs 500 pounds and requires 156 cranks weekly to lift it into position, drives the chime. The other, which weighs more than 200 pounds and requires 26 cranks, powers the hands. The metal-on-metal sound, almost like an engine struggling to start, grows loud and then slows as Perkins completes the rotations.
When he winds the clock near the top of the hour, Perkins waits to watch the mechanism work its magic and to hear the bells chime from within the clock tower.
“I never get tired of this,” he said.