Murphy – Residents interested in carving or whittling wooden items are invited to join a free new class.
It’s taught Tuesday mornings from 9 a.m. until noon at Penland Senior Center, behind the Cherokee County Courthouse and across the street from the Murphy Public Library.
“We have a lot of fun – free refreshments and lots of socializing,” said Lee Crews, main instructor.
Retired from Florida Fish & Game, Crews has a summer home in Martins Creek, spending about six months annually here and the colder months at his house near Gainesville, Fla.
He has been carving and whittling wooden objects all his life, and he even provides the special carvers’ knives for students to use, collected at the end of each session.
Crews supervised classes in Florida for years and says the social part of the classes, bringing people out of their shells, is important and sometimes works miracles.
“Working with their hands and meeting regularly with new friends does wonders,” he said.
An alcoholic brought him a large quantity of whiskey because he didn’t use it anymore and worked out his worries with a carving knife. Another said he had contemplated suicide but found new meaning for his life in the whittling class.
“A veteran of the Iraq War came to our class in Florida, accompanied by a psychologist, who said they had tried to get the man to talk for a year … and failed.”
Crews said he put a carving knife in the vet’s hands for two weeks and soon the vet was asking if the bird he was carving would be ready for a Christmas tree on time.
Two weeks after that, Crews said, the vet was helping himself to the coffee and doughnuts, laughing and joking with his new classmates. And the psychologist was puzzled at his progress.
Those interested can show up Tuesday morning or call Crews at 352-494-2883.