Bud And Peggy Frame Give Pittsford Its Village Clock

"It's absolutely fabulous!," says Joe Willard, proprietor of Pittsford Picture Framing, about the new pedestal clock that graces the Villages four corners. The handsome timepiece that looks down over the busy street scene has attracted lots of favorable attention since it was erected and installed just before Christmas. The gift of Rochester businessman and former Pittsford resident Robert "Bud" Frame and his wife, Peggy, the green-and-gold clock blends beautifully with the 19th Century ambiance of the business district.

The gift was offered to Village officials last year and accepted with enthusiasm. However, it took several months of planning, including coordination with the NYS Department of Transportation to determine how best to site the clock so the timepiece could be connected with existing underground electrical service. Finally, on December 14, the clock was erected in the Villages right-of- way. The two-day long operation left many pedestrians and drivers wide-eyed in amazement. The clock was carefully sited to maximize its visibility from each of the four approaches to the four corners intersection.

The imposing 16-foot-tall clock, a reproduction of a vintage Seth Thomas model, was manufactured by the Verdin Company of Cincinnati. Easy-to-read Roman numerals grace each of the clock's four beveled-glass faces and the top is capped with a gold finial. A crest above each face reads "Village of Pittsford." When warm weather returns, four Victorian-style iron bollards will be installed around the base to protect and enhance it.

A Gift From The Heart

Frame has had what he describes as "a 67-year love affair with this village -where I grew up." The former CEO of Forbes Products Corporation spent 16 years as a youth In Pittsford, and he recalls those days with great fondness: "My family moved from Alexander Street to Washington Road In 1952. My mother thought we were moving to the end of the world, but I loved it. I'd ride my bike at least once or twice a day into the village, stopping along the canal to have 'Dutch' Schoen weigh me and my bike on the scales at his coal company.

"As a kid, I used to get up at the crack of dawn to help the McConnell Brothers with their milk delivery route. My pay was all the chocolate milk I could drink. I'd stop in Hicks & McCarthy's for some penny candy and then check in at the Pittsford Hardware Store. They had a glass case full of pocket knives just inside the door that I thought was wonderful.

How did the notion that Pittsford needed a clock occur to Frame? "Because I keep a tight schedule during the week, I always take my watch off on the weekend," he explains. "One Saturday I was walking around the village after having a cup of coffee at Canal Town Roasters. I looked around for a clock to see what time it was and couldn't find one. That's when the idea occurred to me, and I started to look into the possibilities."

Frame, now a partner in the Trillium Group, a venture capital firm in Pittsford on Route 96 (and Fishers Road), and a consultant to Diamond Packaging Company, says he and his wife have received a hundred or more letters and phone calls from people who love the Villages newest landmark.