Donna Thomas -- Tri County Whittlers

Donna Thomas with some of her carving. Submitted photo

Nevada Daily Mail

Twenty-seven years ago in the fall of 1987, a group of like-minded area residents gathered to organize the Tri County Whittlers and Wood Carvers. The group met each Tuesday night to carve on their current projects and to help each other improve their wood carving skills. Those early members came mostly from the three counties of Cedar, Barton, and Vernon, although later members came from Fort Scott and Pittsburg, Kan., and as far away as Lockwood, Harrisonville, Jasper, and Collins. Carving was taught by Ray Dean Scism, of Nevada, and Jim Summers, of El Dorado Springs.

Ray Scism recounted that after the first set of lessons in the fall of 1987, seasoned carvers were assigned to incoming new "wannabe" carvers to provide one-on-one help and instruction. This continued for several years until the club started offering a formal set of classes annually.

Submitted photo Exhibit of some of Donna Thomas' wood carving.

"I wasn't able to attend the original classes because our youngest daughter (Kristen) was in her junior year in high school and we were gone a lot with basketball games," said 26 plus year member Donna Thomas of Nevada. "However, learning to carve was something I always wanted to do, so the week after basketball ended, I joined the club. I knew that at some point in the future, we would be empty nesters and I would have more time to try my hand at carving." Of the original founding year's members, only Summers and Thomas are still members.

The club has moved around a bit, carving at the community center, 3M, First Baptist Church annex, Nevada Regional Medical Center's cafeteria, a building downtown owned by Carl and Pat Simpson, and for the past six or so years, the Osage Prairie YMCA. Membership has varied from the original 15 to a high of 65, and it's currently at about a dozen members.

"When I started, I didn't carve very often. I only finished a couple of things that first year, and the same for the second year (Kristin's senior year). Most of it was done in my recliner in the living room. My husband used to laugh and say I had wood chips under my recliner and he had potato chips under his. But carving is something that I can do a lot of or very little of -- always coming back when time allows. It has been a tremendous stress reliever and source of satisfaction. I have kept a list of all my carvings, large and small and the list sits at 961. Many were small novelty items such as holiday pins for teachers of my grandkids, or little one-night projects we did as a club monthly program. Some carvers concentrate on one type of carving, but I like a variety. I started with caricatures, then tried animals, then Santas, and for the past eight years, I've been trying to master bird carving.

Submitted photo Karin Haverstic, of Moundville, and Kim Bowmaster, of rural Milo, together with professional carver, Harold Enlow when he held a carving seminar in Nevada, in September.

I traveled to Michigan last summer to study under Keith Mueller, a multi-faceted artist/carver who has won the Ward World carving competition in Maryland many times. That was awesome. I've also studied under several professional carvers throughout the Midwest. Since retiring, I've spent most of my time working on the house and yard, but this year I've finished two Santas, an animal, and a game bird," said Thomas.

About five years ago Thomas started entering carvings in carving competitions in Missouri and Kansas, as well as the Ozark Empire Fair. What started as filling a shoebox with winning ribbons, has expanded to fill a drawer, too. Recently, Thomas attended the KAW Valley hosted competition in Topeka, Kan. She entered four carvings and placed three -- two first place awards and one second. "Before retirement, I only had time to enter the Kansas City show in March and the Kansas one in November. Most of the shows are more like family reunions where we can see and visit with carving friends from all over the Midwest, plus enjoy a friendly competition with our carvings and restock our carving supplies. Although I've attended shows outside of the two states, I've never had time to enter them."

Thomas said that the Tri County Whittlers is going to offer free beginner carving classes this winter for the first time in a number of years.

Classes will start on Tuesday night, Jan. 13, and run from 6:45 to 8:30 p.m. The classes will run for eight weetks, with three projects undertaken, followed by a couple of weeks of painting and wood burning. While the classes will be free, they will be limited to a maximum of 12 people. There will be a charge for the project kit, which includes a carving knife, a gouge, and a v-tool, plus a strop and thumb guard, together with the three project cutouts.

Tom Beck, of El Dorado Springs, and Larry Dragoo, of Nevada, will be lead instructors with assistance from other club members as needed. To sign up for the classes, or to get more information about them, prospective students can contact Donna Thomas, of Nevada, at 667-2955,t or 448-4560.