Board game designed to immortalize local history

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Thor McNeil, a well know potter, is planning to make a ceramic tile board game in an effort to immortalize local businesses and history for generations to come.

McNeil said the idea has been one that he has been developing for approximately 15 years and was spurred along by old newspaper clippings he found when doing a remodel.

“I found papers from 1939 and early 1940’s that were underneath the carpet and served to keep the air from the basement out,” he said. “Twenty-five full pages survived with an awful lot of businesses that didn’t.”

McNeil said one such business was Barr Chevrolet, a business that had an advertisement on one of the old pages he had found, but that no one he has talked to seems to remember, including his father-in-law who was born in Sparta and worked in mechanics his entire life.

“I realized just how fragile our history is,” he said. “Barr Chevrolet simply does not exist anywhere except on an old worn newspaper of the Sparta News.”

McNeil, who is an artist and the owner of the Fragrant Mushroom Gallery where shoppers can purchase his hand-thrown glasses, bowls, and other displays of art, came up with the idea that he could take a sampling of local businesses, create a high-fired stoneware selection of tiles to represent them, and they would be forever immortalized on a tile monopoly-style game board that will double as a time capsule so that they are not forgotten.

To ensure the businesses represented on the 48-inch by 48-inch finished art piece that McNeil is calling “A Taste of Sparta 202,” he will be creating laminated playing cards that will provide a synopsis of each of the 40 businesses represented as properties or corner marshals on the board. In addition to a synopsis of the property, there will be a scannable QR code, which can direct players to a website with more information about the history of each property so they are not forgotten.

McNeil said he would like the corner marshals to be made of what he calls “Ministries of Knowledge” places like the high school, media outlets, local museums, and even Oldham Theater.

“The corner marshals will submit 16 cards worth of information with full stories to be viewed online,” McNeil explained and said the submission of information for the playing cards would be in lieu of payment for being placed on the paying board.

He went on to say the other 36 board members will pay a $200 fee to have their property represented by one of the property tiles, which will include the business name or logo, establishment date, and their address. Additionally, their Title Deed Card, just like the ones in the classic Monopoly game, will include a small amount of information about the business that McNeil said could include how the business was started or even historical uses of the building it is housed in, and that board members, as he is calling the businesses who purchase property tiles on his playing board, will have the opportunity to add pages and links accessible by a QR code.

“There is a gift package that will make this hard to pass up on,” McNeil said.

When a business purchases a property tile, they will receive some great gifts from his collection of handmade pottery as well as having their business represented on the board. However, the details of exactly what will be included in the gift package have not been finalized.

“An added bonus to the board members membership is that their clay tile stamp [created and used to stamp the property tile with their logo] can be used to produce other items such as coasters, ornaments, mugs, etc., and they can order these at wholesale,” McNeil said.

McNeil explained that the final part of the board, which already will include the four corner marshals, and the 36 property tiles as well as a six-inch border or tiles to lay deeds and money on while playing, is a 24-inch by 24-inch infield that will be made up of nine-inch tiles.

“This space is available to anyone who wished to put their name on the board at a cost of $10 a line,” he said, explaining that individuals or businesses could take advantage of this space to have their name written in the clay. “Any business that wants to be on the infield with a logo will need to pay the $35 stamp fee as well.”

A prototype of the board that McNeil said is called an artist’s proof, which includes 12 businesses and four corner marshals  (none  of which have made a commitment, but that McNeil said he already had logos for from other work he has done) can be seen at Sparta’s Green Market the third Friday of every month.

“I would encourage anyone who wishes to be on the Final Art Piece: A Taste of Sparta 2021 to make that decision now as I need the board finalized by July 31 in order to get the work done so that it is available at the last Green Market,” McNeil said.

McNeil said that once the board is completed, it will travel to the different board members’ businesses where it will stay for a month before moving on to the next business on the board before finding a resting place in a public space.

“There will only be one final board,” he said, explaining that it will take a lot of work and be both heavy and expensive so producing multiple copies would prove difficult. 

“I will be looking into turning this into a 18-inch by 18-inch cardboard game board that will be made from a photo of the final tile board,” he said for those who might be disappointed that they can’t take a copy of the unique tile playing board home with them. “The cardboard playing board will come with a complete set of cards, and the game can be played with the pieces, dice, and money from an old game.”

As part of a promotional push for his “A Taste of Sparta 2021” playing board, McNeil will have the prototype game set up at the Green Market each Friday with some chances to roll dice to get on the game board, win prize packs, and be entered in a drawing for a grand prize: a custom 24-inch by 24-inch handmade tile board of their own creation.

“They will assist me in making it from the design phase all the way to mounting the tile,” he said of the grand prize. “It will be a board designed and created by you!”

For more information on how to get a business or name on the “A Taste of Sparta 2021 Playing Board,” contact Thor McNeil, at the Fragrant Mushroom, located at 12 W. Bockman Way.. in Sparta or by calling the gallery at (931) 836-8190.         

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