05/27/2026
BIRDS FLOCK BACK TO THEIR LOOKOUT SPOT: An excerpt from a Telegraph Staff article written years ago by David Brooks:
"There's a great view of the Milford Oval from three stories high atop the Foster Block building, and you don't even have to be a painted aluminum ibis to admire it.
"It's nice up here today, isn't it?" asked Mike Ciardelli, as he and the company employees Chuck Fitzgerald and Dennis Knowles put the two birds back atop the sign of his family's company Thursday afternoon. "It's not so nice in the winter," he added.
The red and white ibises, symbolizing the slogan "We're the birds to call" adopted by company founders "Babe" and "Chick" Ciardelli, were taken down last week and repainted, as part of repairs to the whole sign.
The birds aren't nearly as old as the brick building they sit on, which dates back to 1890, but still have a bit of history.
The sign was originally built for a restaurant called Tilio's, opened by the Ciardelli family in the neighboring building, currently the site of [Brickhouse Restaurant and Brewery].
When the restaurant closed, Babe and Chick-- Mike Ciardelli's father and uncle-- decided to recycle the 30-foot sign to advertise their new company. So in the late 1960s it was reworked to say Ciardelli Fuel C. Inc., hauled atop the Foster Block, which was then owned by Ciardelli's aunt, and put on a large metal stand.
Atop it were placed the birds, cut out of aluminum by the artist who designed the fuel company's logo.
The sign has stood there ever since, internally lit by fluorescent lights and surrounded by 90 10-watt bulbs that flash in a rotating pattern, like an old-fashioned movie marquee."
