October 15, 2019 —With that seemingly redundant title, let us take a step back in history to an article written by resident Jo McMurtry that was first published in the January 2014 KaLex Monthly Newsletter and that is as relevant today as it was then. (The photo is from 2019.)
“Boomerang” Comes Our Way
“I’ve never won a lottery in my life,” says resident Sandy Blanton. But luck caught up with her this past December [i.e. 2013] when she held the winning ticket for the Rockbridge Area Hospice’s “Rocking Horse Raffle” and thus brought to Sunnyside House a unique item with a strong Kendal connection.
This heirloom-quality Victorian-style rocking horse was built in 1995 by Lloyd Craighill (who with his wife Margaret moved to Kendal in 2000) and donated to the Stonewall Jackson Hospital Auxiliary for use as a fundraiser. The lottery winner returned the horse at the end of the year, so that it might be raffled again, and this custom continued when the horse shifted its base to Hospice.
Sandy, however, has decided it is time for “Boomerang” to retire to Kendal, and now its galloping presence enlivens the first floor rear corridor of Sunnyside House, just beneath the curving staircase. Its name is still appropriate, as it has in fact returned to its creator. Kendal’s woodworking shop, where Lloyd has been known to spend time, is also in Sunnyside.
Lloyd is an experienced crafter of Victorian rocking horses, having made three for his and Margaret’s grandchildren. His plans are based on those of Anthony Dew, an English artisan whose work can be found on the Web [as of the original writing]. Dew’s do-it-yourself plans for a horse similar to “Boomerang” cost £15; a finished and assembled horse of approximately the same size costs £4,000 . As of late December [2013], £1 equals about $1.65.
“Boomerang” is dapple gray, with a leather saddle and bridle, brass ornaments, and a luxuriant mane and tail of real horse hair. His body is hand carved of tulip magnolia, and the platform base is of red oak.