`Lasting tribute' takes a hit.

Byline: Susan Nest

SHREWSBURY - A "lasting tribute" to Homer Gage Jr., in the form of a stone monument at Gage Square, on the corner of Elm Street and Route 9, took a blow when it was recently knocked over by a truck driver.

"Officer Shawn Valliere was on patrol and he was advised by a motorist that an 18-wheeler had been making the U-turn at Route 9 (west) at Elm Street and it had struck the monument and stop sign at that location (at 1:50 p.m., March 28)," said Sgt. Alfred Charles Pratt II.

The truck, owned by Harley P. Decastro, of Belleville, N.J., was operated by Pedro Q. Araujo, of Framingham. There was minor damage to the rear of the trailer.

"The truck was stopped by Officer Valliere and the operator was issued a criminal complaint for leaving the scene of motor vehicle accident," Pratt said.

The monument, which stands on a median strip near Patrick Motors Subaru dealership, is an approximately 3-foot-by-4-foot slab of carved stone with a brass plaque attached. It was completely uprooted by the impact of the truck.

Gage was the son of Dr. Homer and Mabel Knowles Gage, prominent Worcester residents.

His family purchased Flint Farm in 1909 for a summer home. Comprised of 138 acres at that time, Iristhorpe, as the Gages named it, was known for its magnificent gardens. It was located both on the north and south sides of 749 West Main St., just a few hundred feet down from Maple Avenue, in the center going toward St. John's High School, according to Bill Yeomans, assistant curator of the Shrewsbury Historical Society.

"The name was changed back to Flint Farm again after (Mabel's) death in 1948 by subsequent owners in the 1960s," Yeomans said. "There are seven homes on the site of the main estate today with over 70 ranch-style homes across the street on the south side of Main Street."

Gage served as an ambulance driver in the American Field Service from 1917 to 1919, during World War I, symbolized by two artillery shells near the monument.

"He felt a need to volunteer, so he went to France," said Shrewsbury Historian Michael P. Perna Jr.

The Worcester County Kennel Club Inc. erected the monument in 1931, in memory of Gage, who was 30 when he died in 1925 of infantile paralysis (polio).

Gage, according to the inscription on the brass plaque, was a "gentleman, sportsman, lover of dogs, but above all, a faithful friend."

He raised champion wire haired fox terriers and Welsh terriers, according to Yeomans.

"He was in line to be president of the American Kennel Club (AKC) when he died," Perna said.

The American Fox Terrier Club still awards the Homer Gage Jr. memorial trophy to one of its members, "who shall own the dog which shall be decided two-times to be the best American-bred Smooth Fox Terrier Dog and the best American-bred Wire Fox Terrier Dog ..."

The monument and stop sign will be repaired and the cost should be covered by insurance, according to Pratt.

ART: PHOTO

PHOTOG: Record photo/SUSAN NEST

CUTLINE: A monument to Homer Gage Jr. was knocked down by someone driving an 18-wheeler.