Category: Community

Drawing the Story Out of Stone: Sculptor Tom Small

October 28, 2022
Eve Hart
by Eve Hart

In front of the community movie theater in Friday Harbor, a perch welcomes anyone who passes by. It’s not your everyday park bench: it’s sculpted granite, refined in its well-formed lines and polished surfaces, yet preserving a natural form in its organic waves and cu­rves. Like its creator Tom Small, it is solid, stable, and unpretentious. It invites viewers to pause and enjoy a few minutes’ rest and peace.

One of Tom’s sculptural benches sits in front of the movie theatre in Friday Harbor. Photo courtesy of Tom Small.

The bench is one of sculptor Tom Small’s first public pieces. Seeing people seated on it brings Tom a sense of fulfillment when he ventures into town, and it reminds him of his primary goal in stone carving. 

…Continued

Designing for Diana: How We Made Gravel Wheelchair-Accessible in Brooklyn

July 27, 2022
Eve Hart
by Eve Hart

In a city known for skyscrapers and tiny apartments, Diana Sanzone’s Brooklyn backyard is a rare treasure. But Diana couldn’t enjoy the muddy yard in her motorized wheelchair.

Her landscaper, Daniel S. Burnstein, wanted to create a natural-looking, affordable surface so that Diana could enjoy her yard once again. Gravel was his material of choice. But one thing had Daniel stumped: how could he ensure that the gravel surface was wheelchair accessible?

Daniel turned to Washington Rock Quarries for advice. With the help of industry experts, Washington Rock made a guide for creating a wheelchair-accessible gravel surface. Then we teamed up with Daniel and Vermont-based gravel supplier North East Materials Group to adapt those guidelines to Diana’s yard.

…Continued

Women in Construction Week: The Women of Washington Rock

March 7, 2022
Eve Hart
by Eve Hart

Women in Construction Week celebrates women in the construction industry and the contributions they make. We’re celebrating by learning more about the women who work at Washington Rock and how they contribute to our business. They describe their roles and their interests in their own words.

…Continued

The Not-So-Secret Garden: Old Goat Farm

June 15, 2021
Eve Hart
by Eve Hart

We are saddened to report that Gary passed away this year after a battle with cancer. We decided to keep the Old Goat Farm story in the original format and hope you will get a sense of Gary’s amazing life through it.

Tucked away in the woods of Graham is a sprawling garden from the pages of a storybook. Swaths of flowers border a lawn that flows in different directions. Each garden bed is flush with hundreds of plants: fluffy peonies here, yellow clusters of ranunculus there, colonies of hosta winding like a forest stream. The colors and forms are endless.

…Continued

A Soft Place to Land: A Home for Second Chances

May 7, 2019
Eve Hart
by Eve Hart

Washington Rock Quarries regularly blogs about causes and businesses that use our rock, sand, or soil products. As part of Give Big Day in May 2019, we featured A Soft Place to Land, owned and operated by Jasmine Fletcher Glaze. A Soft Place to Land is no longer operating as of August 2022, but Jasmine’s story is still a heartwarming one about the influence for good one individual can have.

…Continued