Rooster Rally

Will Be Something To Crow About

To the Editor:

Sitting atop the Newtown Meeting House, right next to our flagpole, is the famous gilded rooster that has become synonymous with the brightness and cheer in Newtown. As far back as to when Newtown was a pre-Revolutionary farming community covered with dusty roads and long before anyone’s recollection, the gilded rooster sat on top of the then-Congregational Church (now the pristine Meeting House) surveyed his town, a town and a post that he loves so well, that to this day, he still maintains his watch coming down every half century or so, to be regilded so he can continue to glitter and glisten and crow about events in Newtown.

About the time that Newtown celebrated its 250th anniversary, it occurred to the Town Fathers that our splendid town did not have a proper Town Seal. So in 1955, famous Newtown artist Robert Halleck was commissioned to design an appropriate seal for the Town of Newtown. Mr Halleck stood outside Edmond Town Hall and looked up and down our gracious Main Street and there above the green tree tops glistened the gilded rooster. The actual and historic size of the rooster is 3 feet 6 inches high, 4 feet ½-inch across and 41/8 inches thick. But even more importantly, the gilded rooster has blown glass eyes, 1½ inches in diameter. The artist had his inspiration and Mr Halleck immediately envisioned a round seal with a rooster and “1705, Conn.,” in the middle, surrounded by Town of Newtown in bold letters, circled around the rooster. Mr Halleck did not choose any old farm rooster, or a fancy stylized rooster, but rather he choose an exact replica of the gilded rooster atop the then-Congregational Church. Generally speaking, the town seal is almost always shown in black and white, primarily for reproduction purposes. But actually, Mr Halleck painted his original seal with dark green lettering around the seal, the rooster was painted gold as was the 1705, the outer circle was gold, red in the inner circle and the eye of the rooster was red.

His artistic accuracy in the seal even went so far as to include the several circular holes in the body of the rooster. These holes have always been subject to wildcat speculation — are they gullet holes from the Revolution? British or American bullets? Which war? Were they put there for a purpose? Was it simple old wear and tear? Defects in the original material? Or purposeful windcatchers? Some Newtowners are still waiting for an opinion to be expressed by the gilded oracle himself.

With much to crow about, Newtowners will have the opportunity to celebrate our rooster on Saturday, June 13, in front of Edmond Town Hall and up and down Main Street. In a small town fairlike atmosphere, the rooster will be the subject of many exhibits and displays; many artists will be on hand to celebrate the rooster with their talents and paintbrushes; even the very young in town will have the opportunity to express their little individual opinions by coloring roosters; some people will celebrate the roster with music and food; souvenirs and much more. Certainly, there will be plenty of conversation and lots of boasting rights, including an exact replica of the gilded Newtown rooster. And that’s not all; the biggest yellow rooster in town will be here as well for petting and a ladder for the brave ones to climb. So come and shake hands with your neighbors and doff your hat to our majestic rooster and start your summer in grand style with a salute to our Golden Rooster.

Mae S. Schmidle

Echo Valley Road, Sandy Hook                                         June 2, 2009