A Town Treasure Is Recovered by Well-Known Folk Art Dealer

CROWN POINT, N.Y.

:A town treasure, the Gabriel weathervane that topped the steeple of the White Church on White Church Road in this town of about 2,000 residents, was recovered on Monday, June 6, when it was offered to well-known folk art dealer Fred Giampietro of New Haven, Conn. "I have known of this weathervane for a long time; in fact I tried to buy it about 15 years ago with an offer of $100,000," Fred said. The vane is of good size, measuring six feet from toe to the tip of the trumpet.

The town-famous vane was stolen in the light of a full moon on Veterans' Day 2003, and the theft was reported in the November 28 issue of Antiques and The Arts Weekly. According to that report, thieves made off with the vane on that night, leaving behind a badly executed copy of the trumpet-wielding angel, complete with two bullet holes.

Joan Hunsdon, an officer in the Penfield Homestead Museum and the town historian, said that the weathervane was between 40 and 50 feet off the ground when on the church and an attempt to steal the piece had taken place a short period before it was actually removed from the church.

"Some ladders had been stolen in the neighborhood and attempt made to take down the vane, but apparently the thieves were scared off that time, but were successful on the next try," she said.

The weathervane was taken down by sawing through the iron shaft it rested on, leaving a square piece of metal support standing. The fake vane was mounted on a round pipe and thus would not slip over the shaft and remain in place on the top of the church. "The fake vane fell to the ground and that is where we found it in the morning," Joan said.

According to Fred Giampietro, Mike Garlenski of Ridgefield, Conn., had bought an eagle weathervane on eBay and made arrangements to meet with the seller, who was from Indiana, to pick it up. At the meeting that took place in Port Jarvis, N.Y., off I-84, the seller also had in his truck a Gabriel weathervane for sale. It was agreed that Mike could take the vane to see if he could sell it.

"Mike brought it to me and I immediately knew it was the stolen one and we turned it right over to the New Haven Police Department," Fred said.

Mike Garlenski told Antiques and The Arts Weekly that he met this man, known to him only as Chad, through the Internet and agreed to buy an eagle from him. "He then produced this Gabriel weathervane from his truck and asked if I would have any interest in it," Mike said.

"You had to know it was a masterpiece, if you knew nothing else," Mike said, and "he let me take it to show a customer and to authenticate it." No money was exchanged for the Gabriel and, according to Chad, he had paid $18,000 for it from two guys from Ohio, names unknown, and was selling it for $23,000.

"I took the vane directly to Fred Giampietro and it was then I learned it had been stolen," Mike said. Mike mentioned that Chad did not ask for any money up-front, not even a receipt, and that he has not heard from him again and it has been over a week. "You would think if someone owed you $23,000, you might hear from him," Mike said.

"Our part in this case had come to a standstill and we were just waiting in hopes that the vane would surface and be for sale at some point," Investigator Marshall Rocque of the New York State Police in Westport, N.Y., said on Wednesday, June 8. He said that his department had done everything it could, had no real clues to follow and had reached a point where "we just had to sit back and wait."

He mentioned it was a lucky thing the vane was taken to Fred Giampietro, as "he had knowledge of the stolen vane and knew what to do when it came on the market." The vane remains in the hands of the New Haven police and will probably go home to Crown Point in about three weeks.

According to record, the weathervane was made in 1822 by a local blacksmith by the name of Henry Forster, possibly from local iron deposits. It measures six feet long, the body is two dimensional and the wings and the trumpet are three dimensional. "It was beautifully made, with raw iron ore on the trumpet to act as a counterweight in the wind, and the surface was a solid 'ten,'" Mike Garlenski said.

"The Gabriel was put on the first White Church, which was torn down in 1833 because it was deteriorating," said Joan Hunsdon. She said it then went on the second church, which was struck by lightening in 1945 and burned. After some time in barn storage, it was installed on White Church number three.

With the return of this town treasure, Joan just wants to "make sure it is always safe and while we are not sure right now what to do with the Gabriel, our last choice is to sell it." The Homestead Museum would be a proper resting place for it, but the security would have to be increased, she added. Chances are it will not be put back on top of White Church.

Fred Giampietro says he now values the Gabriel vane at between $250,000 and $350,000 and believes certain collectors would find this a favorable price for "one of America's great weathervanes." He indicated that he would be willing to act as an agent should the church decide to sell the vane, "but an exact replica of Gabriel should be made and returned to the top of the church steeple."

Jane Hundson mentioned Crown Point has the distinction of being the "birthplace of electricity." That reputation may very well now take second place to the town's treasure, Gabriel.