Drive by John Given’s house, not far from the center of Jaffrey on Main Street, and you’ll always get a wave.
No, Given doesn’t spend his days greeting people as they go to and from downtown, but one of his creations, known as stone man, always does.
Stone man was the first sculpture that Given, a stone mason, created for what has slowly turned into his personal stone oasis for everyone traveling the major route between Jaffrey and Marlborough. He came up with the idea when his daughters, Lily and Carly, were young and thought it would be a fun project for them to do together.
He got the idea at a Boston Flower & Garden Show, but those stone people were more in the shape of a snowman. He wanted to make people, with arms and legs – using stones he found in his travels around the state.
Since making stone man, Given has added to his collection with a small girl on a swing off a large tree next to his driveway, and a pair of young boys, one riding a go-cart down his front hill and another fishing in his self-created goldfish pond.
“All of them just look like they’re kids playing in the yard,” Given said. “If you look close, you can almost see a smile on their face.”
One winter he made a snowman – when there wasn’t any snow – which included rocks that weighed 2,000, 800 and 150 pounds.
Each creation has started when Given came across the perfect rock for a head. The rest of the body he can figure out, but the head must be the right spherical shape. Since Given comes across thousands of rocks each week, he has no issue putting together the torso and legs – which sometimes are made with granite instead of stone – but it all starts with the head. And the best place to find a round stone that can pass as a head? The water, of course.
“The only round ones you find are if they’ve been tumbling down the river,” Given said.
Given has more stones that he said will one day make a perfect head, he just has to find the time to make them. He does have a plan for an upcoming summer, though.
With an above-ground pool visible to all who drive by, and after coming across a piece of granite that could pass for a platform diving board, Given wants to make a sculpture that looks like a child is getting ready to dive into the pool. Last year, although only people on Facebook could see it, he had one lying at the bottom of his pool.
“Every couple of years I’ll build another one,” Given said, who added the boy fishing might be relocated to his house in Florida.
He has ideas for creating some animals to go along with the kids, but it all comes down to time – and finding the right materials.
“I’ve collected some pretty unique shaped stones,” Given said. “If I see something unique, whether it’s a big stone or a round stone, they all go to my house.”
His wife Diane is the one responsible for dressing the children. She has hats and scarves for the colder months and fun hats and flip flops for summer time.
Given estimates each piece is about 200 to 600 pounds, while the go-cart, which he just happened to find the right wheels for, is about 1,400.
“It’s all New Hampshire stuff,” he said. “And there’s a lot of great stones out there.”
Given said it’s not that uncommon to see people pull over and start walking around his yard to take pictures. A few have even said they almost got into an accident because they were too busy admiring his handiwork and not paying attention to the road.
The construction is fairly simple. He uses a carbide bit on his hammer drill to make holes for fiberglass pins that hold the head and extremities in place. Sometimes he has to use two pins to keep the arms at a certain angle – like waving or holding on to a fishing pole, which Given has rigged to make it look like it’s bobbing in the water.
“Sometimes you look out and the swing will be swaying back and forth,” Given said.
Given has been creating things out of stone most of his life, so he enjoys the work and when he finds people roaming around his yard, it shows people appreciate what he’s doing.
So next time you’re in the center of Jaffrey drive out Route 124 like you’re heading toward Keene and take a peek at Given’s creations. There might just be a new stone child doing something cool.