The Panama Carvers Gather Today 7-7-16
First, Bob
from Whitestone wore one…and today Harvey came in with one…and I heard others
asking where they could get one. I heard “Dollar Tree” so guess what? I now
have a Panama hat and I also bought an extra one. Someone is sure to want a
Panama Carving Hat…and they’re guaranteed to be offered for sale in the Carving
Illustrated Magazine and on line. Everything can be bought on line.
I sat next
to Tom the peach pit carver. I took out my next project. I plan to make something like this for my granddaughter
Lauren. She’s a dancer.. I have the old shoes…It’s a start.
After almost two hours of carving under the watchful
eye of Ed
the carving looks a lot like those long faced African totem face
things…Not very appealing to a thirteen year old dancer, I think. 
Meanwhile,
talk turned to the various branches of service that the carvers had served in.
Howie, a marine, was talking about his favorite drill instructors…I think tough
drill instructors are a lot like tough teachers and tough coaches..You might
hate them when you had them but you always remember them..I remember Mrs. Schultz…a
very hard English teacher. Maybe she would enjoy reading some of the stories
about the Carvers…
Mel,The
King Kong of gorilla carvers was working on another beautiful carving…It’s
almost ready for the wood burning stage.
Eli sat at
a nearby table..He’s into relief carving this year…and doing very well at it.
He’s a great listener and not much gets by his appreciative ear..I can see him
silently laughing now and then..He’s smart enough to put the tools down before
he defaces something while he is quaking at his desk...Someone mentioned a sale
of something somewhere…liquor included. I jumped at the chance to ask if there
was any Crown Royal in the stash…No one knew..but the mention of Crown Royal
brought back some great memories for both Eli and myself..In fact, it was Eli’s
grandfather who took him aside..in great secrecy and confidence, and gave Eli his
first taste of Crown… You don’t forget
those great moments.
Late in the day Elliott entered the room. It was
almost lunchtime and many of the carvers had gone to the lunchroom..I stopped
Elliott and asked him if I could take his photo. He stood still long enough for
me to snap one. To me he looked like a human “go by” for a woodcarver..Tool
bags in both hands…ready to carve. Note Eli on the left ..You can almost see
him laughing quietly…On the right you can see the good half of Ed. No doubt the
busy Ed is carving the face off of another poorly done carving. Anyway.. I am
ready for the next carving day…I bought two of these beautiful Official
Panamanian Wood Carver Hats…Whoever emails me first gets it.
BR.
