GEORGETOWN — The Courthouse Square Association in Georgetown held their annual Woodworkers/Woodcarvers Day on Saturday, July 25, with nearly 10 tents set up showcasing beautiful works of art crafted by hand.

Estil Newberry sold food for visitors with his Big “E” BBQ truck, and Harold and Betty Manning brought their homemade ice cream to the square for visitors to enjoy.

Many of the woodcarvers from last year’s successful event returned for this year’s, including Ken Liming, Jim Crozier, Gary Howser, Ed Bailey, and C.G. Uebel.

The woodworkers stuck to their personal repertoire, including Liming’s human figurines with bushy mustaches and beards and Crozier’s fish plaques that come to life.

“You just try to hit all the bases when you come to these,” Uebel said.

There were also a pair of new woodworkers attending the event, Bob Lawrence from Hamersville and Chris Ring. Lawrence is a guitar maker, and has made more than 100 guitars in the past 13 years since retiring full time from work as a welder and then a consultant with General Electric.

“I was really impressed and thrilled because I got to meet so many nice people and be involved with something local and something good,” Lawrence said.

In addition to guitars, Lawrence brought mandolins and banjos for sale, and for a time he and his grandson, Kenny Lawrence, even played guitar for the visitors over the sound system.

He said he didn’t make any sales but he does repair work and spoke to many interested attendees about possibly hiring him to fix their instruments.

“Follow up business sometimes will surprise you,” Lawrence said.

Lawrence’s favorite guitar has interesting origins. He found out about a man who had acquired a number of old telephone poles made out of Western Red Cedar wood. The man sawed the poles in half and used most of the wood for paneling in his home. But he had a couple slabs that ended up in Lawrence’s possession, letting him build the body of a new guitar out of it.

Within seconds of playing the guitar for the first time, Lawrence knew he had discovered the perfect guitar for himself.

“It’s the sound that I love,” Lawrence said. “I’ve had it now for eight years or so. It just gets better with time.”

Organizer Carol Myers said that even though there was a lower than expected turnout, nearly every woodworker walked away with higher sales than last year and said they would return for next year’s event.

“They’re kind of a close knit group,” Myers said of the woodworkers, since many of them learned how to carve wood together. “It’s like a little reunion for them annually. If they sell they’re happy and if they don’t its just a good time. The Mannings came with their ice cream and that’s a bonus. It was just a fun day.”

The list of the prizes won by the event’s attendees includes: Best in Show: Bob Lawrence; Best Display: First Prize, Jim Crozier and Best Display: Second Prize, Ed Bailey Best Caricature: Ken Liming; Best Fish: Jim Crozier; Best Christmas: John Dotson; Best Bird: John Dotson; Best Cane or Staff: Ken Liming; Best Human or Person: John Dotson; Best Animal: Jim Crozier; Best Shelf Sitter: Ken Liming.

https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_BobLawrence-DanielKarell-1.jpg

https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_CGUebel2-DanielKarell1.jpg

https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_EdBailey2-DanielKarell-1.jpg

https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_EdBailey-DanielKarell-1.jpg

https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_JimCrozier-DanielKarell-1.jpg

https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_CGUebel-DanielKarell-1.jpg

https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_MickeyWoodcarvers-DanielKarell-1.jpg

https://www.newsdemocrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/web1_KenLimingWoodcarversDay2015-DanielKarell-1.jpg

By Daniel Karell

dkarell@civitasmedia.com

Reach Daniel Karell at 937-378-6161. Follow him on Twitter @GNDKarell