WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Part 1: The Unknown Rockwell

Part 1: The Unknown Rockwell

Arlington, Vermont - October 7, 2009

There has been a lot written and said about the artist Norman Rockwell. Rockwell who did a great deal of his work in West Arlington used countless Vermonters as models for his illustrations.

Now one of his neighbors has put his thoughts down on paper in a new book entitled, "The Unknown Rockwell".

"This is home. It will always be home," said Rockwell model Bud Edgerton.

Home to Bud Edgerton is West Arlington. His family started farming here in 1875.

"When I was a kid this were quite different. We had no electricity and no running water as a farm kid I learned how to exist," he said.

Along the way a neighbor moved next door, Norman Rockwell, the world class illustrator.

"So 1943, the Rockwells come and your families become very close?" asked reporter Anson Tebbetts.

"Yup. I immediately became a big brother to the Rockwell boys," recalled Edgerton.

The former Rockwell home is now a bed and breakfast, touring the home brings back memories.

"I would come over to listen to ballgames. They had a radio that would bring in the Dodger ballgames," said Edgerton.

And the two families shared holidays side-by-side.

"Every Christmas we would come over and sit down with the Rockwell family and share some of their treats. They had some wonderful treats," he remembered.

Certainly a treat for a farm boy. Along the way, Edgerton became one of Rockwell's models. In 1943 he modeled as a boy scout.

"He insisted he was not an artist but an illustrator in other words he could tell a story with his brush," said Edgerton.

Four generations of Edgerton's modeled for Rockwell.

Edgerton didn't think much about this relationship at the time he and his family were living it. But now as he approaches 80-years-old, Edgerton has co-written a book on his experiences as a model and living next to the artist.

"Saturday December 25th in the six months we had lived next to the Rockwells. We had grown very close more like family than friends. The differences in our backgrounds did not mean a thing," said Rockwell.

"The Unknown Rockwell" was co-written by Nan O'Brien.

"This is not a coffee table book not a go get book. This is about who is was as a neighbor. I think the story is about the two patriarchs that's Bud's dad and Norman, the dairy farmer and successful artist," said author Nan O'Brien.

In 1953, because Mrs. Rockwell was ill, the artist and his family moved to Stockbridge Massachusetts.

"It was pretty sad for my folks because they were so close and one of the things he said about moving he dreaded the most was leaving Jim and Clara that's my mother and father. I think most of the Arlington folks thought the same way," said Edgerton.

It was a slower and simpler time. Something the authors say is still relevant today.

"You know there is not too much different from where we are now from a long time ago. Money is tight. Families are living with each other, all kind of scared that's where we were in the 1940's," recalled O'Brien.

It's history that Edgerton is now sharing with others with the "Unknown Rockwell".

"It was a special relationship," recalled Rockwell.

Tomorrow night, we will see the "Unknown Rockwell". It's a piece that the public has never seen. The Edgerton family has held it for years but now wants the world to see it.

There is a special story behind the artwork.

It will be unveiled tomorrow at a special ceremony at the Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. We will take you there tomorrow as part of the Channel 3 News at 6.

Anson Tebbetts - WCAX-TV