Maker of Violins, Violas and Cellos

Violin Commissioned by Delvin Warner

This violin was commissioned by Delvin Warner of Lowell, Vermont.  It is modeled after Fritz Kreiser's 1733 Guarneri del Gesu.  The spruce top was carved from covered bridge beams taken from the Windsor, Vermont/Cornish, New Hampshire covered bridge built in 1866.  The spruce logs were hauled to the bridge site by teams of oxen.  The bridge was built along the side of the Connecticut River, and then hauled over the river by teams of oxen.  In 1990 the bridge was overhauled and much of the old spruce was removed, replaced with laminate.  Thurmond found out about the wood and visited the bridge restoration site, where he was given permission to take numerous beams for the purpose of instrument making.  By the time he got there, almost 3/4 of the wood had already been burned in huge bonfires.  After the bridge crew foreman, Tony Roberts, ordered that all burning stop, the remainder was given to violin makers located throughout the world.