*First in a series
Stecoah – Bill Prather of Ol’ Man Hickory has been working with wood since he was a boy.
Recently retired, he has dedicated himself to making “all types of creative items, all the way from dining room sets down to children’s wooden toys.”
“My inspiration came from my father, who was a woodworker,” said Prather.
Prather has been building furniture and other wood products for 17 years. His craft began as a hobby and stress-reliever during his long career as a hospice chaplain. He now produces items of hickory or other hardwoods, with bent rockers being his top seller.
Hickory is a particularly heavy, hard, strong wood with a flexibility that allows the construction of such bent-wood items.
“We also do custom family items, such as a family tree,” said Prather. “That’s a wooden frame with a metal tree to which we add names of children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren.”
A family tree is just one example of the custom jobs that Prather crafts to his client’s specifications.
“My greatest pleasure is when the client or customers come back and tell me how much they’ve enjoyed the pieces I’ve created for them,” Prather said.
Originally from Wyoming, Prather first came to Graham County “as a fluke.”
“We had a friend whose parents owned property here in the area, and they asked us to come look at it,” Prather recalled. “We fell in love with the Stecoah Valley.”
He spent seven years building his own log home and now does his woodworking in a shop on the same property.
Ol’ Man Hickory has no Facebook page or website, but visits various fairs and craft show in the regions, with Prather selling most of his work “though word of mouth.”
For details, call Prather at 239-565-5298 or e-mail billp0930@gmail.com.