OOPS CLOCK BENDS TIME FOR THE SALVATION ARMY ~
Time is bending with whimsical delight and good fortune for The Salvation Army Select, the new thrift boutique in Lake Jeanette where custom clock designer and furniture maker Glen Miller donated his distinctive Oops Clock.
"I love woodworking and helping people," he said, "and that’s what I am doing, helping The Salvation Army help people. This new store is a great place to show it off, and for the terrific exposure that helps everyone involved."
On sale now at the Select store (3610-H North Elm Street, Greensboro) for under $2,000, the Oops Clock price is $4,500, according to Miller’s website, Clocks by Glen Miller, "The donation of this fantastic grandfather clock, we hope, will help attract more donations of artwork, distinctive home goods and decorative accessories to complement the Select store’s changing selection of better apparel," said Major Paul Egan, corps officer, The Salvation Army of Greensboro. An impassioned professional woodworker for three decades, Miller’s "timely donation" also helps him call positive attention to his personal work, designing and making and assortment of traditional and contemporary clocks and outdoor furniture in his Thomasville home studio. Only making custom clocks just over 10 years in his spare time, Miller applies his talent at a Davidson County furniture manufacturer. The inspiration for the Oops Clock’s gentle, captivating bend "came to my mind when I read to my daughter Alice in Wonderland and The Cat in the Hat, whose imagery got my mind going," he said. "No way was I going to make reproductions of expensive antiques. I needed to be original, in this case, whimsical, to capture attention." The desire to make grandfather clocks crystallized about 10 years when he saw an antique Seth Thomas clock at an estate sale."That old, fantastic granddaddy clock was just part of the excitement," said Miller. "On closer inspection when I opened the back and looked inside, I was thrilled to discover a poem had been etched or carved, and it just captured the essence of what time is to us and our responsibility of using our time to benefit others." Miller’s distinctive creation is made of solid African sapele, American cherry wood, and oak veneers all hand rubbed for its natural finish. It is battery-operated, with fine Hermle quartz movement sounding a comforting Westminster chime. Its approximate dimensions are 77-inches tall, 22-inches wide, and 12-inches deep. Miller copied the poem and engraved it on brass plate attached to Oops Clock. It reads: When as a child, I laughed and wept. Time crept When as a youth, I dreamed and talked Time walked When I became a full grown man Time ran And later as I grew older Time flew Soon I shall find while traveling on My time has gone Only recently did Miller learn the poem he copies was a paraphrase of an untitled poem by English clergyman Henry Twells, 1823-1900, who wrote: When as a child I laughed and wept, time crept. When as a youth I waxed more bold, time strolled. When I became a full-grown man, time ran. When older still I daily grew, time flew. Soon I shall find, in passing on, time gone. O Christ! wilt Thou have saved me then? Amen. The Salvation Army Select opened in November 2009, and was designed and built by interior design students at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, with merchandising assistance from the department of Consumer, Apparel and Retail Studies. In addition to the Select store, The Salvation Army operates a larger Family Thrift Store at 307 West Lee Street, Greensboro. Select Store (336-273-2662) hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Saturday; and Lee Street (336-274-0259), 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Saturday. Both stores receive donations of gently used apparel, household goods and furniture, with the large items on sale at the Lee Street store. Home pick up of donations can be arranged by calling 336-273-5572 during normal hours, Monday through Friday.
www.millersgiftgallery.com/. Proceeds from Select store sales fund Salvation Army’s local programs and services that include providing food, shelter, clothing and emergency financial assistance, plus life skills training at the Center of Hope and six units of Greensboro’s Boys & Girls Clubs.