David Athearn uses a variety of woods to create sticks, such as the Devil's Club walking stick he displays, left.Above, Athearn works on the beginnings of a slingshot.
Story last updated at 6/17/2010 - 5:45 pm
David Athearn's house is overflowing with sticks. In each nook and cranny there are sticks for clubbing fish, sticks for walking, sticks for slinging shot, polished sticks and sticks in the rough, and most importantly, cherished sticks. Athearn has a special knack for finding and transforming the perfect stick from its humble beginnings into treasured and useful possessions. A knack, or craft, that he learned from his grandfather and father over 60 years ago. Athearn, now a grandfather himself, keeps this same tradition alive.
Several years ago, the slow pace of retired life began to bore Athearn, so he took to whittling, sanding, smoothing and varnishing as a constant hobby - so constant, that the house began to overflow with slingshots, fish clubs, canes and walking sticks. In an effort to tame the crafting beast, his wife suggested selling the excess pieces, and that is exactly what he did. Now, with a less cluttered home, Athearn continues the hunt for the perfect stick north and south.
Speaking with Athearn about his craft I found how little I actually know about the sticks around me. Each bush, tree or plant has a unique density, moisture level and bark thickness, which make for good and bad carving options. Alder, which we see locally in abundance, is lovely at first, but doesn't last and will be ruined after a couple of years. The hard woods to look for, like pecan, maple and oak, are not so locally available.
To find just the right stick around here, Athearn looks in a surprising and somewhat dangerous places, under the leaves of the Oplopanax horridus - even the name is scary - aka Devil's Club. The painful spines on these abundant plants can be stripped down like bark to reveal hearty stalks perfect for walking sticks, canes and more. Another surprise (to me at least) is the blueberry bush as a stick source. When I think of branches my mind jumps to trees, but some blueberry and highbush cranberry shrubs are large enough that slingshot fodder can be found. Plus, the blueberry branch has a kelly green coloring that runs throughout and when polished looks like the whole branch has been infused with taffy. Delicious and functional!
Athearn's five-step process involves scouting, sanding, smoothing, varnishing and finishing the crafts. But for him, each creation is unique and useful, even if hastily thrown together. Remembering a family camp trip from his youth Athearn recalls how his father, from the inner tubes of a floating tire dock and a simple stick, quickly created a slingshot, which brought to camp the prize of two grouse for dinner around the glowing campfire.
Whether your dad is into hiking, fishing, camping or hunting, this Father's Day is the perfect time to create a craft together. Or, for the less craft-inclined, find one of Athearn's original creations at Homespun Mercantile in the Airport Shopping Center. However you celebrate, show Dad how much you care by making a lasting impression from something as simple as a stick.
Tanna Peters is a crafter and designer from wonderful, rainy Southeast Alaska. View her latest creations at www.alaskacrafter.com and her shared crafting site craftaddicts.blogspot.com. Send local craft inquiries and info to tanna.craft@gmail.com.
