Around Brimfield: Brimfield breaks ground on new senior living facility

Coincidence or a miracle? You can decide for yourself. I was fascinated by a short post on Facebook that had a Brimfield connection, so I asked Kim Davis, the person who posted it, for more of the story. She was happy to share. It seems that she and her husband, Mark, were visiting their son, Jerry. In her words:

“The guys were in the living room talking. I tuned out their conversation until I heard Mark ask Jerry where the quilt rack had come from. Jerry explained how he’d seen it in town on the side of the road and had picked it up because it was nicer than his old one. Mark mentioned it looked like cherry wood, and I peered around the corner to see the quilt rack in question. This wasn’t a cheaply put-together quilt rack; it was a hand-crafted, heirloom-quality piece of woodworking, and Mark and I were sure we knew the carpenter who’d made it by the craftsmanship. “There’s one way to find out for sure,” I said as I grabbed the rack from the dark living room and brought it into the kitchen’s light. I was certain I would find a signature on the bottom as I flipped the rack upside-down. Even better than just a signature, under the varnish in a carpenter’s pencil I found writing I knew so well: “By Ernest F. Bennett Brimfield Ohio. June 1978”. Jerry had found a quilt rack made by his great-grandfather! Ernest F. Bennett created many quilt racks in his Brimfield workshop while his wife, Evelyn, created beautiful, hand-sewn quilts. I still have one of Grandma’s quilts displayed on one of Grandpa’s quilt racks. The found quilt rack was as beautiful as the day it had come out of Grandpa’s shop, and it had come full circle back to the family. What a find!”