Hometown Rankin - December 2015 & January 2016

To go to a Pearl River Woodcarving Guild show is a treat. The first
thing you may notice is the person working the registration table is
doing double duty, pocketknife in hand and actively carving Christmas
stars for ornaments. Dale Anderson, clad in his green vest and Pearl
River Woodcarving Guild hat, carves for the fun of it. “It’s relaxing and
it’s fun,” the 88-year-old Reservoir resident says. “I enjoy taking a
simple block of wood and creating something out of it. It’s ideal for me,
because I do it just about anywhere.”
Inside the Brandon municipal complex, an array of birds, fish, bears,
ducks, dolphins, deer, and other wildlife are caught in poses, frozen in
time. Hands have carefully carved the figures out of a variety of different
woods, then painted or stained them to look as real as they do in nature,
or artfully stylized. There are Santa heads carved in cypress stumps, a
fire-breathing dragon, humorous caricatures and more. The pieces are
entered in the appropriate categories then a panel of judges evaluates
the relief carvings, miniatures, embellished turnings and other wooden
works of art.
Wade Buie coordinated the show for the second year. He’s been a
member of the Guild for about six years. “My cousin, James Buie, was
one of the founders of the club. He and another cousin, Kendall
Winstead, tried to get me to visit one of the meetings. I finally did, and
then decided to attempt to carve something. That was it. I fell in love
with it.” Buie had four pieces in the show for competition, with another
three on display only.
Hometown Rankin • 75