Janet Watson discovered a symbol of Townships history just outside her home on Winder street Tuesday afternoon; two glass bottles impossibly nailed to a telephone pole.
This incredible feat was the signature work of Bill McCallum, an infamous man from Sawyerville who would nail glass bottles, plates, and other delicates to telephone posts all around town. The catch? McCallum died in January of 1947, over 70 years ago.
Since his death there has been a book written about his life, The Imps and Bill McCallum by Freeman Clowery, as well as a play, written by Ann Rothfels. His grave is located at the Maple Leaf Cemetery on route 210 in Newport.
While Watson says she has a fairly good hunch this might be the work of a certain copycat trying to prove it isn’t so hard to nail some bottles to a post, she’s yet to see it done with her own eyes. The mystery lives on.
Bill McCallum’s ghost visits Lennoxville
By Matthew Sylvester, Special to the Record
