Downtown | Bricklyn, Vermont: "A City Within A City"

by Amanda B. Starr, The Bricklyn Eagle’s Metro correspondent & Melody B. Olsen, High School student intern at The Eagle
July 8, 2021

Summary of Article ➤ Bricklyn City Arts presents a dramatic exhibition of weathervane animals on downtown rooftops.

**Rooftop weathervanes co-sponsored by the Bricklyn Legotary**

Bring your kids & family to downtown Bricklyn! On display on rooftops are a dozen weathervane animals — some fearsome, some friendly.

Bricklyn City Arts, with the support of the Bricklyn Legotary, is bringing drama to downtown right in the middle of Summer. Join our downtown weathervane festival!

Some background on the debut of this exciting downtown arts festival from our new student intern at the Bricklyn Eagle, Melody B. Olsen, a rising Junior at Bricklyn Regional High School:

What an Incredibly Awesome Idea!

Hi, it’s Melody B. Olsen, reporting here for the Eagle:

*Jerry still wearing his Giraffe outfit from the Carnival — how cute! But watch out for Jaws, Jerry!*

Wow. My first time writing for this truly highly esteemed paper! Here goes!

The incredibly awesome idea for these rooftop weathervane sculptures you’ll see flourishing downtown came from Jerry Plater-Zybrick, an English teacher at Bricklyn Regional High School (for full disclosure, which I guess I have to do, I had Jerry as my teacher last year).

Jerry’s no zaddy with his kind of goofy looks, but he’s awesome, and an easy grader to boot!). Some of you may also know him from his honchoing (that a word?) the Bricklyn Legotary. But I’d bet more of you know his incredibly awesome wife, Hilma, the stellar President of the Federal Council. Well obvi, they’re the real power couple of the Realm!

*Up on the roof of the old North Street building eyeing a polar bear weathervane sculpture.*

Anyways, Jerry (and I’ll just keep using his first name as indeed everyone calls him Jerry, not “Mr. Plater-Zybrick” which is so 20th century) came up with the truly awesome idea of putting those animal sculptures — the ones that you know have been sitting in the High School storage shed for maybe forever — on downtown rooftops. Way to go, Jerry!

Bricklyn City Arts, that dope group that cares about arts and stuff got on board. They got talking with the business folks downtown, and everyone agreed it would be simply incredible to have those animals looking out from the rooftops!

*Photo of several of the animal weathervanes along South Street from the News 3 helicopter.*

The Awesome History of Weathervanes!

I also learned in probing around for this article (and, OMG, yes there’s work to being a student intern here at the Eagle! — and I really don’t mind!) that weathervanes, including vanes with animals and whales and such, have a long history, even back to cock vanes on top of churches in those Middle Ages (you know what I mean! don’t make me blush!) Even forever ago in BC times there were weathervanes in ancient China and Greece. What’s more, our ancestors in Denmark loved weathervanes! Yes, they’re incredibly awesome!

Rooster weathervane in exhibition at the American Folk Art Museum

Thanks to Duane Sandville for sharing this awesome photo of a weathervane he took at the American Folk Art Museum! I also went to my “go to” source in school: Wikipedia. Here’s what Wikipedia says about cock weathervanes:

“Pope Gregory I said that the cock (rooster) “was the most suitable emblem of Christianity”, being “the emblem of St Peter”, a reference to Luke 22:34 in which Jesus predicts that Peter will deny him three times before the rooster crows. As a result of this, the cock gradually began to be used as a weather vane on church steeples, and in the 9th century Pope Nicholas I ordered the figure to be placed on every church steeple.”

I learned that weathervanes don’t have to be of animals. Here’s one Duane sent me that he saw in the American Folk Art Museum of a horse drawn hook & ladder. It was made for the City of Barre, Vermont’s new firehouse in 1904. Pretty awesome!

So, head on downtown, and get yourself up on one of the rooftops! What a boss view you’ll get! TBH, the weathervanes were 100x more incredible than I expected! Truly awesome! (jeez and sorry, Editor Walt told me not to repeat words, but the weathervane animals really are TRULY AWESOME!). Gotta go. ✥

➤ Note from Editor Walt Brickman: Hope you don’t mind the youthful enthusiasm of our new student intern! I’ve inserted links to that stellar resource, the Urban Dictionary, for a few words or phrases Ms. Olsen uses you might not be familiar with. There were some I’d never heard of, though I don’t have a teen or pre-teen in the house!

I also wanted you to read Ms. Olsen story unfiltered by a staid Editor like me — though to tell the truth, I’d say I’m incredibly awesome too! Of course, we can all lay blame for the flagrant use of the word “awesome” on the Lego Movie! Don’t believe me? Watch the clip below that’s had well over nine million views.