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Citizen Cane
Craftsman carves a niche at Ambucs show
By Lynn Rebuck
Lititz Record Express
Published: Jun 19, 2008 1:08 PM EST
Lititz - When woodworker Terry Bupp-Petersheim's father was undergoing treatment
for leukemia at John's Hopkins Hospital, his father was encouraged to
select a symbol that would, to him, represent strength.
He chose the
eagle, based on the passage in Isaiah 40: "They that wait upon the
Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as
eagles."
When Bupp-Petersheim took up cane carving after his
father passed away, the first specialty handle he created was an eagle, in
memory of his dad.
Last Saturday, Bupp-Petersheim was in Lititz
Springs Park with fellow craftsmen and artists at the 15th Annual Ambucs
Crafts in the Park Show, where, despite the high temperatures, interest in
his work was soaring on the day before Father's
Day.
Bupp-Petersheim's booth showcased his canes and walking
sticks that are designed with creativity and practicality in mind. From
handles with high-flying eagles to low-riding Harley Davidson
"hogs," his canes appealed to shoppers of all ages and
interests.
With a family interest in woodworking that spans several
generations, it seems like he is, well, a chip off the old block. His
grandfather had his own cabinet shop and his father installed
kitchens.
There are even Trees in his family tree, at least on his
wife's side.
"I made a cane for my mother-in-law, whose
maiden name was Trees," he said. "I woodburned a tree on top of
the cane, and put the names of her family going down".
After
inheriting his grandfather's chisels, Bupp-Petersheim started carving
words down the shafts of canes. His first words were the same as those his
grandfather used to carve: Psalm 23, with one difference.
"He
would do the whole verse coming down; I just did the first two sentences. I
got to "still waters" and then I was done. His spirals were real
tight, and his letters would be pretty much next to each other, so he would
get the whole verse on one cane."
One cane can make a
difference in a life, and Bupp-Petershiem enjoys making converts to his
canes. At the craft shows he often notices that elderly men who need a cane
are hesitant to step toward his booth, some reluctantly approaching only
after being led by their well-meaning wives.
As he manages his
online business, www.woodcarvingbyterry.com,
he hears from customers who struggle with aging parents who are able, with
his help, to get a handle on the situation.
"They'll say
their parents need a cane, but don't want to use a cane," he said.
"If they have something that's personalized, they'll use
it."
One client's mother refused a cane until she received
a Bupp-Petersheim original with something meaningful to her on the
handle.
"She really liked angels, so I burned a little angel in
the handle," he said. "He e-mailed me that she took it to church
with her for Christmas and has used it ever since."
It seems
like adding that personal touch is satisfying for both client and
craftsman, though the carving can be a tedious process. It takes him about
an hour to carve 15 letters. Still, he enjoys receiving client designs and
special orders.
Bupp-Petersheim carved a Harley Davidson handle on a
cane for his uncle, then trailed the names of his family members down
below.
For a dachshund-lover's cane he carved the names of all
the canines the man had ever owned. The lengthy dog is a perfect subject
for his handles, as the animal must be long enough to comfortably
accommodate a human hand.
Rather than paint the wood,
Bupp-Petersheim prefers to creatively combine different colors of natural
wood to bring life to his animal carvings. His bald eagle bears a white
maple tail and head with walnut wings, while his fox has a white maple chin
and tail with a red cherry face.
His face lights up when he talks
about his medium. While showing the various walking sticks on hand, he
enthused about the woods he special orders, like the distinctive Diamond
Willow from Canada, bamboo, and yucca cactus, which, he says, "is
actually real light and very strong. It's nice for a hiking stick
because there's really no weight to it."
He also enjoys
ambling along the fields of Lancaster County's farms finding one of the
most visually interesting items he sells. At the edges of fields he finds a
variety of branches entangled by vines, which he uses for his distinctive
"twisted sticks." Apparently, there is some significance to the
twist.
"They say if the twist slants to left as it goes up, it
was a bittersweet vine that wrapped around it; if it slants to the right as
it goes up the tree it was the honeysuckle that wrapped around it," he
said.
Reverend Kenneth Jetto of Lititz was so impressed with the
walking sticks, he purchased one for himself.
"They actually
look like they're still alive, especially the twisted ones," he
said.
His wife, Ellen, on the other hand, was captivated by another
Bupp-Petersheim creation: his carved miniature
chickens.
"They're so charming," she said, as
Bupp-Petersheim's wife, Danielle, wrapped the chicken knick-knack and
matching earrings. "And they make me
smile."
Bupp-Petersheim's miniature carvings are gaining
notoriety as well. Last summer he received the Best in Show award for his
ornaments at the Elizabethtown Fair. His chicken creations are sold
year-round at the Old Country Store in Intercourse.
Emily Wright of
Greensboro, N.C., was shopping at the craft show for her father, and she
had a tall order to fill — her dad is 6 foot 8 inches tall. She
seemed surprised that Bupp-Petersheim had on hand just what she needed
— a big walking stick that was almost taller than she
was.
"That's why I make the tall sticks,"
Bupp-Petersheim happily noted while attaching a monocular to the top of a
stick selected by Wright. The 10-power viewing device, he pointed out,
eliminated the chance of losing, or forgetting, one's binoculars when
hiking. But the monocular isn't the only topper he offers.
It
seems that Bupp-Petersheim has a solution for every "sticky"
situation. While most walking sticks are sold with a fixed top, his are
offered topless, and buyers have choices how to top it off. Some are
whimsical, some practical: fantasy lovers can delight in a dragon's
claw clutching a ball, and those prone to wander and overheat can have a
compass/thermometer combination.
He even offers Titleist golf ball
toppers, for golfers who are used to doing a lot of walking in the
rough.
Bupp-Petersheim seems to have found his niche in the craft
world, providing useful items designed with their users in mind. But he
also enjoys the business end as well. For him, success at a show is an
enabling experience.
"I look at it as supporting my
hobby," he said. "I sell what I make so I can make more."
Plus, he gets an added bonus that he usually doesn't receive in his
full-time job as a technical education instructor at Elizabethtown Area
Middle School — compliments.
"It's the best of both
worlds," he said.
As he and his wife struggled to bring down
their bulky, white E-Z Up shade at the close of the show, Bupp-Petersheim
felt satisfied. He used a camping analogy to describe the
experience.
"When you go to a craft show, you don't know
what the physical environment and the weather are going to be like,"
he said. At one stormy show almost their entire assigned plot was
underwater. "Today was a good-weather day."
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