Thank you Mother Nature for the beauty and versatility of wood.
Trees and their wood helped mankind tame the night with fire and light, warm the winters with heat, explore new lands, build shelters for safety, decorate for mood and pleasure and create instruments from which music soothed, comforted and provided pleasure.
On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine, Bailey’s Wood Products will present its ninth annual Fall Woodworker’s Fair at 441 Mountain Road, Albany Township.
Artisan vendors who create things like cutting and charcuterie boards, holiday decor, epoxy home products, furniture, turned bowls, furniture and more will be on hand to talk about their woodworking and offer what they’ve created for you to buy on the spot and take home or order to be custom created.
Among those at the fair will be wildlife art and ash bench creator Dan Christ, Intarsia by Crafts by George, Woodcraft Store of Allentown, Swerl Designs of West Reading and many more.
There will be a little something for everyone, including slab wood, guitar building wood, carving wood and just about any other kind of natural wood you can think of.
Demonstrations will be offered by Penn Jersey Scrollers with scroll saw demonstrations, LED Hard Wax oil finish by Brad Rehmeyer, Bush Oil Products, another finishing product, by Bill Bush, operation of the new slab saw at Bailey Wood Products, with special presentations by Matt Peitzman on the STEM Guitar program and Dave Schneck, who will chat about local tree service and his new book “The Soul of a Tree.”
There will be horse-drawn carriage rides and an antique car display by Precision Motor Cars, with vehicles restored using wood from Bailey Wood Products also offered.
Food will be sold by Scout Troop 104 of Krumsville, and they do an excellent job of creating homemade soups, burgers, dogs, hot cider, baked goods and lots of other goodies.
New this year, BAD Farm from Albany Township will be selling ice cream and chocolate milk.
Attendees will also be treated to some live music throughout the day by The Royal Picks.
The Woodworker’s Fair was created to provide a venue for Bailey’s customers to display and sell items that were created using wood from the store and participation and the variety of unique hand-made items has grown through the years.
My wife and I love going to Bailey’s to browse holiday items made from wood and to marvel at the many different sizes, shapes and species of slab wood that they keep on hand.
We’ve purchased one-of-a-kind Christmas ornaments, our favorite turned wood salad bowl, as well as slab wood and timber from Bailey’s. The open timber framing in our home is solid Douglas fir that Bailey’s brought from the Pacific Northwest to rebuild our home. They cured and stored the massive timbers until we needed them, and there’s not a day that goes by that I don’t look at or even touch those timbers and the stone that surrounds the wood to feel grounded and secure.
We also selected two giant slabs of roughhewn walnut that wood and carpenter artisan Mike Hupka transformed into our new coffee table with two matching end tables.
Believe me, knowing where the wood and timber in your home came from provides some deep sense of connectivity with nature and the outdoors. I can’t explain it other than in this way. Being surrounded by familiar wood is soul satisfying.
Hupka will be at the fair helping the Bailey family, so everyone you’d ever want to talk to and learn from will be at this event. I hope you get up there and experience the power of the wood for yourself. Admission is free.
Dave Kline is an award-winning writer, photographer, show host and producer, singer-songwriter, travel guide and community advocate. Reach him at davesmountainfolklore@gmail.com.