ALEXANDRIA BAY, New York (WWNY) – Preserving time and memories – a clock repairman out of Alexandria Bay is keeping time ticking 25 years after his hobby first began.
“They’re kind of relaxing, I think, to hear the ticking and chimes go off it at certain times. They’re mechanical and you can actually see how they work if you look on the back,” said Garry Scholes.
Amid what can be the busy village of Alexandria Bay at a clock repair shop along Church Street, time stands still. At least until Scholes gets his hands on them.
With each tick comes a story of a time gone by.
“A lot of them don’t have a lot of value with these old clocks, but they’re sentimental to the older generations. A lot of time there’s cards left in them from other repair people. You can see in the early 1900s when they were repaired. That’s kind of interesting,” said Scholes.
It’s meticulous work and takes patience and of course time. Scholes thanks his past in construction for that.
He found this passion a bit later in life.
“25 years ago I was in the construction business. Somebody gave me an old clock which I thought I could repair. I took it home and destroyed it. I got into the clock business after that. I couldn’t take the defeat,” he said.
Pocket watches, cuckoo clocks, grandfather clocks – there hasn’t been a clock Scholes can’t bring back to life.
“Takes about a day-and-a-half to take one apart and put back together. Clean it, oil it. Then I test it for a few weeks, make sure it’s going to stay running,” he said.
Scholes is one of few in the north country still in the business and he does get busy. But time flies when you’re working with clocks and it’ll likely stay that way for years to come.
“As long as I can I’ll keep at it. You’ve got to do something,” he said.
Something to pass the time.
Copyright 2022 WWNY. All rights reserved.
