A piece of Swiss history finds a new home in Walnut Creek
By Dave Mast
April 4, 2016
794
While Swiss cheese and Swiss décor line the streets of Sugarcreek, there is another staple of the town that has been bringing people to Sugarcreek for decades. Tom Millers enormous Swiss murals are also a big part of the local landscape, but recently, one of those murals was in danger of losing its home. Millers incredibly detailed Swiss Alps mural that had been perched above the entry of Beachys Country Chalet Restaurant in Sugarcreek was at a crossroad.
When Bob Smith, owner of Smith Funeral Home, purchased the chalet last year, the beautiful mural was not in the renovation plans, so a piece of history was in danger of losing its prominence in the community. Fortunately, the nearly 40-foot-wide mural found a new home at Walnut Creek Cheese, where it now resides after getting a face-lift.
We had been in conversation with Bob Smith, who had bought the Beachys restaurant facility, and in conversing with him, we found out that the mural wouldnt fit into the new décor he was planning for a funeral home, Mark Coblentz, owner of Walnut Creek Cheese, said.
Coblentz understands the value and significance of local historical pieces, having resurrected the worlds largest cuckoo clock from Alpine Alpa near Wilmot that is now on display on the square in Sugarcreek. Knowing how important Tom Millers art has been to the area, Coblentz began figuring out how to save the Swiss Alps scene, complete with the moving goat herder and his flock of goats.
My biggest concern was that it would end up in the back of someones barn for the next 20 or 30 years, rotting away, Coblentz said.
Coblentz did some measuring, and quickly realized the north wall at his store was large enough to house the enormous painting.
We had been talking to someone about painting a mural on that wall anyway, and although this was a little bit larger than what we were anticipating, after looking at everything, we felt that we made something important fit, he said.
Millers murals have been a part of Sugarcreeks décor for a long time. Many of his murals welcomed visitors to various buildings throughout the downtown area. Miller painted an indoor mural on the wall at Der Dutchman Restaurant in Walnut Creek. More of his art resides at Guggisberg Cheese near Charm and Heinis Cheese in Bunker Hill. In Sugarcreek, there is a moving train going in and out of tunnels of the front of the Reeves Bank, skiers flying down a snowy slope on the former Goshen Dairy building and snowmobiles zipping along the hills at Jims Sunoco Station. Coblentz said Millers impact in Sugarcreeks downtown business district and even areawide was legendary, and he also said that Miller has many paintings inside peoples homes.
Tom was a well-known, beloved artist, and he truly depicted the European lifestyle, along with the rolling hills of Holmes County, Coblentz said.
According to Coblentz, last October, Ivan Weaver Builders was called on to take the mural down panel by panel and have it moved. Having been outside for three decades, the mural was in a state of deterioration, and needed some touch-up. The pieces were numbers and ordered, and stored for several months while the plans were made to resurrect the piece. The restoration of the piece fell onto the shoulders of another well-known local artist Mahlon Troyer. Troyer had the privilege of working with Miller over the years and said it was an honor to be able to restore one of the legends paintings.
His impact on my life as a painter has been incredible, Troyer said of Miller. Tom would be so thrilled that we were able to restore this mural. I never took lessons from Tom, but I worked with him and watched his style and asked a lot of questions, and working alongside him, I kind of learned how to imitate his work in a way. Troyer has restored several other Miller paintings.
Troyer went through the painstaking process of stripping away the originals worn and weathered look, sanding the piece and adding a clear bonding primer that sealed the piece. Then, he used exterior enamel paint to bring the piece back to vivid life.
It took me about 2 weeks from start to finish, Troyer said of the restoration process.
The artwork was up and finished in mid-February, and Coblentz said that many people have watched in fascination as the goats and their herder climb the mountain pass. Coblentz also said that in addition to getting a new coat of paint, the mechanics for the goat herder and his goats, which move from left to right across the mountain pass, also got an update. He said the Walnut Creek Cheese maintenance team removed all of the old belts that had become a detriment and replaced them with new synthetic poly-belts that move much more quietly.
The process has been a fun one for all involved as they reclaimed a piece of local history.
We are very pleased with the way it turned out, Coblentz said. Mahlon did a fantastic job of staying true to Toms original work, and the he did a wonderful job of making the colors and cut-outs really pop out. He kept it very true to Toms original.
Miller passed away July 28, 1996, at the age of 85. He remained an avid painter throughout his life.
