
Peter McKenna Retires after 31 Years in the Woodshop
By Debbie Blake Kerrick, former GCDS Arts Director
Peter McKenna’s time in the Arts Department began in 1994 when the current woodshop was then housed in the old “Middle School” adjacent to Locke Center. In it was a tiny closet that functioned as his office, where a phone and laptop remained free from sawdust, a loving by-product of the numerous projects-in-progress quietly displayed around Peter’s shop. Alumni describe him as a “calming presence,” recalling “there was something super peaceful about being in his shop and making stuff with your hands.”
A quiet craftsman full of grace, Peter was always willing to help a student struggling with a new tool or a colleague who asked for guidance making a personal project. Peter Preston recalls a man who ‘never said no’ when asking to use the woodshop to construct sets for our Middle School musicals at all hours of the day and night. A trusted colleague, dedicated teacher, meaningful mentor and a friend to all, the “McKenna Magic” was real. Measuring, cutting, drilling, glueing, hammering, sanding - these were just a few of the many skills Peter’s students mastered in their time with him in the woodshop. Whether working with black walnut, cherry lumber, maple strips or white pine, Peter knew exactly which wood would be best suited for each project.
And before long, students emerged from this magical place with their masterpieces. Clocks, cutting boards, folk art fish, step-stools, candle-holders, whirl-a-gigs, side tables, Adirondack chairs and even a canoe! Peter held the special sauce that made every child feel like an artist and a maker.
An expert craftsman in his own right, Peter always enjoyed collaborating with colleagues on countless GCDS projects. Nowhere was this better evidenced than Peter’s collaboration with beloved graphics design teacher Kathy Davis. Together, their originality and vision allowed them to combine talents and skills on fourth and fifth grade student projects, including clocks for cancer patients and bird nesting boxes for Tod’s Point. Together, they made tables for fundraising auctions, lamps for GCDS retiring community members and, with the help of Drew Bridge, turned many Annual Art Show visions into actual reality.
Peter’s lifelong fascination with the seafaring arts stems from his boyhood boating in and around Long Island Sound. Following in his woodworking father’s footsteps, he built himself a 3,000 square foot colonial reproduction gambrel roof Cape Cod-style home over the course of eight years, where he currently lives with his wife Pam, their two dogs and his rescue cat, Murphy. In 2001, he designed and built a country barn workshop on that same property in Deep River, CT, which currently houses his Nautical Arts Workshop. Inside are work stations for ten students and a variety of power and hand tools, many that were once owned by his father. This maritime workshop seeks to preserve the seafaring arts and was featured in both Ink Ct, Magazine and the Shoreline Times Newspaper. As if all of this were not enough, in addition to offering weekend and summer classes there, Peter offers boat building workshops to families at the Connecticut River Museum in Essex and woodworking activities to the Boy Scouts.
Henry Adams reminds us, “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” Peter’s compassion, dedication and commitment to Tiger Pride are his true legacy, and we will greatly miss the sawdust and smiles in our GCDS woodshop. Thank you, Peter, for a lifetime of memories. Enjoy your well-deserved retirement and know that the McKenna magic lives on in all the students and colleagues whose lives you have touched.
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