Gogebic Range Woodcarvers hold annual picnic

BESSEMER - About 20 people attended the annual picnic of the Gogebic Range Woodcarvers club Wednesday afternoon under the pavilion at Bluff Valley Park in Bessemer.

Club members Dale and Phyllis Leinenon played music while other members ate pasties and soft drinks.

Allen Archie, secretary treasurer of the club, said the members meet twice a month in Bessemer's A.D. Johnston High School to talk shop, discuss carving methods and work on various projects.

"We have a good time and get together; mostly BS, drink coffee and eat cookies," he said. "And do some whittling."

The club started sometime back in the mid-1970s, Archie said, as a woodworkers and woodcarvers club, and held meetings at Bessemer's Washington Elementary School.

When the woodshop was moved to A.D. Johnston, the woodworkers lost some of the equipment they used and the club evolved into mainly a woodcarving club.

Archie said he's been carving since he was a Boy Scout.

"I started whittling when I was about 8 years old," he said. "My dad gave me a pocket knife and I think I still got scars from that."

He added that a lot of people just start out whittling pointed sticks out of tree limbs.

"And little by little they pick something up and decide, 'Well maybe I can make a frog out of this instead of a pointed stick,'" Archie said. "I've always said the good thing about whittling is, 'The worst thing you'll wind up with is a good pile of chips and a sharp stick. The best thing you'll wind up with is a nice carving.'"

There are currently around 20 members of the club, from various backgrounds such as engineers, school teachers, law enforcement and some housewives, Archie said.

Ken Hannula, originally from Milwaukee, said he's been carving in the club for a while and took a few classes at Gogebic Community College when he moved to the area.

"I guess I just enjoy doing it," he said, "but the club really helps to have the social part and share ideas."

Mike Salli, president of the club, agreed that sharing the ideas of woodcarving is a benefit of the club and members welcome others who want to learn by teaching what they know.

"The main thing about woodcarving is, you got to have a sharp knife, a piece of pine or cedar and Band-Aids," he joked. "You can't worry about a little blood. Band-Aids are cheap."

Salli, who also does chainsaw carving and makes rustic furniture, said he joined the carvers about 30 years ago.

"A lot of (the members) in the wintertime go south for the winter, and they belong to other clubs down there," Salli said. "But it's nice when they travel around they bring us ideas. ... It's a good hobby because when it's cold outside you can whittle by the fire, or the T.V. and get something done, instead of just watching T.V."

Besides the different types of carving, a lot of the projects involve wood-burning and painting, which are additional skills people learn in the club, Salli said.

Some projects can take 25-30 hours to complete, and the club invites master carvers Fred and Elaine Stenman from Minnesota once a year in August to teach various techniques and help with projects.

The Gogebic Range Woodcarvers meet twice a month, on the first and third Wednesdays from 6:30-9 p.m. in Bessemer's A.D. Johnston High School woodshop.