Webb Border recalls the days in Montana when his college-professor father would get home from work, grab his fly rod and head for the river.
The 10-year-old would carry his father’s tackle box.
“He bought me a pocket knife and a box of Band-Aids,” Border said. “I’d sit on the bank while he was casting and I’d whittle. I became obsessed with it.
“Montana has unusually good cottonwood bark, which you can pick up by the ton. I started out carving boats and whatever came to mind.
“My dad didn’t believe in buying kids toys. He bought me a bicycle to run errands and he bought me a wagon to haul things in our garden. Nothing else. But there was a barrel out in the garage and he kept it full of wood. The neighborhood kids, if we wanted a toy, we made it.”
He fashioned a travois (a simple sled) for his dogs to pull and knives, bows and arrows, slingshots and sleighs, and honed his skill with his hands.
Border is one of about 100 members of Quilceda Carvers, a club that meets monthly in Marysville. The meetings include a presentation by a member or a guest, refreshments and a “show and tell” in which the men and women share their work with others. Some also teach classes at senior centers and elsewhere to pass their knowledge and love of carving on to another generation.
Border, who lives near Darrington, is nearly 81 and has moved on to bigger projects. He’s curing a pole to carve a Northwest Indian totem pole, and is working on a 10-foot pole bearing the likeness of a Bulgarian murderer who lived for 12 years as a hermit in a carved-out cave on the slopes of Whitehorse Mountain.
Mincio Donciev, then 67, survived by fishing, hunting and stealing food, tools, batteries and clothing from numerous homes and cabins, including Border’s – three times. Authorities, using trackers and motion detectors, caught Donciev in 1998, who was suspected in dozens of burglaries, after he broke into Border’s house and left a fingerprint. He was sentenced to nearly 21/2 years in prison for three burglaries and later returned to Bulgaria.
He also became a Snohomish County legend after his strange tale unfolded. He won a $412,500 lawsuit for injuries incurred by dog bites from a member of the sheriff’s K-9 unit during a violent struggle during his arrest, and he became the subject of song by bluegrass performer Tab Tabscott.
Border carved a likeness of Yukon, the dog that injured both of Donciev’s feet.
Border’s 200 or more carvings include American Indian petroglyphs cut into walking sticks and whimsical frogs created for his bathroom. Other carvings include signs, gnomes, endless varieties of fish, a bull elk, a chess set with a Northwest Indian theme, and at least two clocks. His favorite is a mosquito on a plaque that was displayed for a few months in England’s Parliament.
From beginners to master carvers, club members take great pride in their carvings.
Peter Pirkle of Everett carved a salmon that, if real, would weigh about 54 pounds.
“I’ve had people offer me over $1,000 for it,” he said. But the 3-foot-long fish will go to one of his children, he said.
Mary Purcell of Arlington recently showed off her carving of an old cowboy.
“It took me about 10 years to make him,” she said. “He kept jumping back into the drawer.”
Another Arlington resident, Nancy Snyder, retired last year after 30 years teaching science to middle school students in Darrington. She’s been carving only about three years, although she attended the club’s meetings for about two years back in the 1980s. She accepted an invitation to attend a class
“I was in awe of what people were doing, but I never thought I could do it,” she said.
A lover of wood, she’d built a few things but wasn’t happy with them. Then she tried carving, which was harder than she thought.
“Now I’m teaching, which makes me laugh,” she said.
“There’s a certain fascination (to carving). You start out with just a block of wood. You learn to make certain cuts. Somehow you’re able to take something in your mind and do it with your hands. It’s a lot of hard work.”
Anyone can carve, if they learn the basic cuts, the techniques, and safety issues, Snyder said.
She loves the club because “we have the best teachers,” including famous carvers from around the country, she said.
Her favorite piece is a relief carving she did of Chief Seattle’s daughter at 107, with a weathered face that took Snyder 20 hours to capture. She plans to enter that in the Artistry in Wood show Sept. 18 and 19 at the Evergreen State Fairgrounds in Monroe. She’ll also display the carvings of some of her Darrington students, who have won “every junior division they’ve entered” in the last two years, she said.
Snyder and two friends fulfilled her dream by building a 16-by-40-foot “woman’s shop” in her backyard. She continues to carve because she loves the camaraderie and friendships she’s gained.
“Woodcarvers don’t keep secrets of how to do things,” she said. “They share everything they know. They teach you the best techniques and really help you do your best.”
Reporter Cathy Logg: 425-339-3437 or logg@ heraldnet.com.
Meetings
The Quilceda Carvers meet at 6:30 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at the Marysville Library, 6120 Grove St. The club is a nonprofit group dedicated to promoting interest in the art of carving, whether it involves wood, bone or stone, and intarsia or scroll work, or other natural mediums and methods, or community service. Meetings are open to the public.
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