A dramatic flare: Massive lantern gets a ‘focal’ role
Among the crowd gathered outside the Acton Museum, perhaps none were more delighted than Richard Fahlander and Bill Crosby when the giant Acton 250 lantern came to glowing life.
“Once the button got pushed, the lantern got lit; that was a good relief,” said Fahlander, a key driver of the project.
Crosby’s company, Crosby Design, crafted the 10-foot-tall replica of the lamps that sent Paul Revere on his historic ride. It will be featured in multiple events celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Revolution’s start.
This March, cyclists retraced Revere’s ride, bringing an LED torch from Boston’s Old North Church to symbolically light the lantern.
“The effort was all worthwhile, that’s for sure,” said Art for All executive director Margot Kimball, whose group joined as a non-profit partner, taking ownership of the lantern.
“For Art for All to take this on,” Kimball said, “it’s like taking part in the grand tradition of artists and art endeavors to bring people together around a formed identity and stories.”
The spark of an idea
Fahlander offered the idea of making a giant replica as a “focal point” after listening to conversations about making paper lanterns at a meeting of Concord250’s Art, Literature, and Music Subcommittee.
After talks began in September, several iterations were created.
The 10-foot replica weighs roughly 200 pounds and could fit about 250 of the original lamps inside it. It’s made of Dibond, which has plastic in the middle and thin aluminum sheets on either side, with a wood base. It comes together (and apart) with wingnuts.
Crosby shared credit for the effort: “I didn’t build this thing myself. My team built it.”
Practical considerations
Along the way, the team ran into challenges.
How could it be lighted to shine both day and night? How should it be navigated along the parade route? Crosby didn’t want it to look like the lantern was being pulled like a toy wagon. Having two people steering it with ropes on either side could be a “disaster.”
In the end, a tiller was added to the back. With a nudge on either side, the lantern can be turned, said Crosby.
“Who needs a truck in the parade with something that big?” said Crosby. “With a team of people pulling it, it’s even more fun. You get the party pulling the whole thing and one guy steering it from the back.”
The lantern has remained on display outside the Acton Museum in the walkup to Patriots Day. After its rolling role in the parade, it will stand outside Wright Tavern. It will also be at Newbury Court, which was the project’s lead sponsor, and Kimball hopes the stately replica will spend time in West Acton.
Where to next?
“Other groups, I think, will be interested in a visit from the lantern,” said Fahlander.
