BUCKLAND — An already small town can look a whole lot smaller when you’re standing over it with a chisel.
Arnold Purinton, 84, has spent the past two decades carefully carving wooden miniatures of various buildings in town. He’s replicated the Buckland Public Library, the Wilder Homestead, Arms Academy and even the Bridge of Flowers, all by hand in his home workshop in Buckland.
“Buckland. Everything is inspired by Buckland,” Purinton said. “The Mary Lyon House, the shoe shop, the Wilder Homestead — everything here is Buckland.”
Purinton had not done much woodworking prior to picking up this hobby, but wanted to find a way to spend his free time in retirement to celebrate the important buildings in Buckland.
“I retired in 2005 and that’s kinda when I started,” Purinton said. “It’s a good hobby.”
The process begins with Purinton’s granddaughter, Erika Goddard, going out and photographing the building or site her grandfather plans to recreate. He can then look at the photos and replicate the building using wood, glue and paint.
“He gets it down to size and then he just starts building. He cuts the pieces of wood, he paints it and etches it to look like whatever it’s supposed to be,” Purinton’s daughter Jill Jablonski said. “He once painted candles in a window.”
The biggest part of creating a miniature: “Time. It takes a lot of time,” Purinton said.
Purinton’s miniatures are meticulously detailed, featuring furniture, landscaping, wooden figurines and, in some models, even working lighting.
“It’s all wood except for every once in a while I’ll get fake flowers to put on it,” Purinton said. “It’s all just wood glued together.”
Creating a model can take months, Purinton said. He added that it’s mainly a winter hobby and something to keep him busy during long, cold, dark hours, when being outdoors is not as enjoyable.
“It’s a good time I have and keeps me out of trouble,” Purinton joked.
Purinton said the miniature he is most proud of showcases the home of his late brother, Dr. Mark Purinton.
He also created a model of Arms Academy that he is particularly proud of. He noted he graduated from the school in 1959 and created the model to bring to a class reunion.
Jablonski added that Purinton does not sell the models; he creates them solely for the pleasure of doing so, and then frequently donates them to local organizations and businesses that may appreciate having a model of their building. For example, she said the model he created of the Buckland Public Library is on display at the library.
“Whenever he does a new one, it has been put on display at M&T Bank in Shelburne Falls,” Jablonski said. “He’s always made them without any thought as to where they’re going to go. I’ll ask him what they’re going to do with them and he’ll say maybe someone will want them.”
Jablonski said Purinton has not been able to make any new models in a couple years, since a hip injury has prevented him from getting to his upstairs workshop, but they are hoping to get a chair lift installed so he will be able to resume his hobby.
Family friend Tom Crosson described Purinton as remarkable and said he is glad Purinton was able to find a hobby he enjoys after five years serving in the U.S. Coast Guard, as well as decades with his plumbing company and working with the Freemasons.
“He’s the guy who, when your plumbing broke down on the weekend, he left what he was doing and came and took care of you,” Crosson said. “He just took care of people.”
Jablonski said Purinton loves making the miniatures and showing them off every year at the annual Summer Day on the Buckland Common.
“He loves to do woodworking and it keeps him busy,” Jablonski said. “He loves having a task.”