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Florida Art<br />
CHUCK MASEK<br />
THE TIKI DUDE<br />
By John Leach<br />
One morning in 2006, tikis of unknown<br />
origin appeared at the Malabar<br />
Disc Golf Park. It was a subtle<br />
mystery that was a topic of conversation<br />
among the golfers for a long<br />
time. “Who made these tikis? Why<br />
are they here?”… It was like an episode<br />
of Scooby Doo - The Mysterious<br />
Tikis of Malabar…<br />
Some of the tikis were suddenly<br />
painted in bright colors, others were<br />
quickly stolen. Golf course regulars<br />
took the tikis that remained and tied<br />
them up high in the trees to thwart<br />
any more thefts. They remain there to<br />
this day…<br />
A<br />
fter about a year, word got around the golf park that<br />
some guy calling himself The Tiki Dude was claiming<br />
responsibility for making and donating The Mysterious Tikis<br />
of Malabar. Then, out of nowhere, these carved wooden<br />
pelicans started turning up…<br />
Chuck Masek, The Tiki Dude (and disc golfer) explains:<br />
“Oh yeah” he laughs, “I just brought out all these tikis<br />
and didn’t tell anybody. I took ‘em down to the course to<br />
help decorate, help give it a bit of its individuality. I travel<br />
the country and see lots of disc golf courses but that one is<br />
more unique than most. People started painting them, tying<br />
them in trees… I took some out to Palm Bay Regional Disc<br />
Golf Park but they didn’t tie ‘em down and they all got stolen.”<br />
He laughs some more…<br />
If you were to judge Masek strictly by his conversation<br />
and phone manner, you’d quickly decide he’s a very happy<br />
guy. His enthusiasm is infectious and he’s got a trunk-load<br />
of colorful stories to tell.<br />
Masek used to be the manager at Gizmo’s Reef Restaurant<br />
(now Captain Katanna’s) on the river in Melbourne, and<br />
made tikis as a hobby. He didn’t even try to sell them. “It’s<br />
funny because I had a garage sale one day and had some<br />
‘defect’ tikis laying in the woods beside my house. Some<br />
guy offered me $100 and I said sure, take ‘em all! Turns out,<br />
that’s the only thing I sold all day!”<br />
He started making tikis on a whim and after about six<br />
months things just clicked and his carving skills came together.<br />
Shortly thereafter Gizmo’s lost its roof in a hurricane<br />
and Masek decided to try and make some money with his<br />
tikis. He’s never looked back. His work has evolved over<br />
the years and as a self employed wood carver he couldn’t be<br />
happier.<br />
“I can do anything I want now. I carve what I want. I<br />
carve dragons, pterodactyls, mythological creatures, that’s<br />
how I’ve advanced in my carving. I follow the art show circuit<br />
around the southeast so I have a set schedule and I know<br />
where I’ll be at a year from now - Virginia Beach in the<br />
summer, Gulf Shores Alabama in October - everything else<br />
is in Florida. I don’t gamble with winter! I don’t do much locally,<br />
just Grant Seafood Festival, Sebastian Art Show, Cocoa<br />
Beach Art Show on Thanksgiving weekend, and there’s<br />
a new Earth Day event in Sebastian, I’ll be there on April<br />
22nd.”<br />
Masek is a music fan too. He plays harmonica and used<br />
to jam with the local blues dudes in his restaurant days. His<br />
harmonicas were stolen out of his car awhile back and one<br />
of his regular customers bought him a whole new set. The<br />
Tiki Dude is a very likable guy.<br />
“When I sell at music festivals I’ll go out and watch the<br />
bands play, I don’t worry about leaving my booth. People<br />
are pretty trustworthy at the festivals and they’re there all<br />
week so if they want to buy something while I’m away they<br />
just come back another day. I carved a bunch of mushrooms<br />
44 - Brevard Live April 2017
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