Church Pew Lazy Susans

When I was in Tennessee a few weeks ago, my dad gave me an old church pew that was removed from his church.  It was destined for the dump and would be there right now had he not rescued it.  This pew was installed in the church in 1964 when they built the new sanctuary.  I was 8 years old when it was built and listened to many sermons over the years sitting on these solid red oak pews.  It just didn’t seem right to let it go to the dump or be cut it up for firewood.

I decided to do the “green” thing, reclaim the wood, and turn it into lazy susans.  This involved cutting around the holes (where the book holders were screwed on) and all the staples that held on the upholstery.   I ended up with 5” wide strips that I ran through the planer to remove the old finish and dents.  I then glued the strips back up and cut the circles out on my bandsaw.  The whole time I was milling the wood, I was wondering if any of the chewing gum under the seat bottoms belong to me from the 60s.

The result was three 16” lazy susans and still enough wood for maybe a couple 12” ones.  I also couldn’t resist making up some bookmarks out of the oak.  Upon first glance, these are a little uninspiring, but the history and story behind them is what it’s all about.  I figured out the other day that excluding revivals, these lazy susans have bore witness to over 6600 Southern Baptist sermons and should be full of the Holy Spirit.

Church Pew Red Oak

Church Pew Bookmark With Walnut Trim

It's all about the sanding

The Lenoir City Show

I couldn’t ask for a nicer venue than the Lenoir City Festival.  I was literally steps from the lake and the view was beautiful.  The weather this weekend was slightly overcast to sunny.  Saturday was humid, but there was a slight breeze coming across the peninsula that made it bearable.  It didn’t start raining until around 4:30 on Sunday when we were breaking down.  It poured buckets.  And even with my full rain suite, I was still soaked when I got home.  Load in and out was very easy and the staff was wonderful to work with.  This is a really nice show to do.

I was amazed at the number of Georgia artists.  I met at least five from Georgia and one lady, a couple booths down from me, had been next to me at the Smyrna festival a couple of years ago.  There was a lot of nice people and a lot of good conversation all weekend.

Looking down the path

My space with the lake in the background

The view from the back of my space

Going North

I’m getting excited because in a couple more days, I will be heading to Tennessee for another show!  This is the big Lenoir City Festival that is set up on the banks of Ft Loudon Lake.  This show was recommended to me by quite a few artists at other Tennessee shows, so I decided to finally try it.  The best part is that it’s close enough to my parent’s home so I can stay and visit with them this weekend.

My shop is full of new inventory, still drying, that replaces what I sold at the Buckhead show a couple of weeks ago.  It should be ready to pack up by Thursday morning so I can get on the road that afternoon.  I have a Friday morning set up, so I want to get up there Thursday afternoon and relax before the work starts.  The weather looks promising for the weekend, so I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that everything goes well.