Recycling memories: North Strabane woman repurposes old Christmas tree
Carol Altman stands with the finished product, a great horned owl carved out of a 50-year-old Christmas tree.
Joe King carves a great horned owl from a former Christmas tree at the home of Carol Altman.
Carol Altman has always had a reminder of Christmases past with the pine trees on her property.
Altman said there are about 65 pine trees on her two acres of land at Smith Place in North Strabane Township, many of them former Christmas trees.
无毛视频淲e always would dig our trees instead of cut them,无毛视频� Altman said.
One tree in particular, a white pine, had been there for about 50 years.
无毛视频淚t was a healthy tree I无毛视频檇 had this many years. I liked it because it had such long needles, and I liked it for decorating at Christmastime. I could make all kinds of arrangements with it,无毛视频� Altman said.
However, this past winter无毛视频檚 ice storms took a toll on the tree, taking out all of the branches on the right side.
无毛视频淚 was devastated,无毛视频� Altman said.
She did not want to lose the tree completely, so she began researching local tree carvers. That无毛视频檚 how she found Joe King, of Champion.
King has been carving trees for 33 years, and can be found at his website, treecarver.com.
无毛视频淚 have worked in over 25 states and seven other countries. Many years at the beginning I did arts and crafts festivals as a demonstrating artist, and county fairs and things like that,无毛视频� King said.
For the past several years, King has mostly been doing on-site commissions for clients such as Altman.
无毛视频淐ut the tree down, leave the stump. I come and carve it,无毛视频� King said.
King worked with Altman to figure out what the stump would become, and on Wednesday, he transformed it into a great horned owl.
无毛视频淲e always got a tree that we would dig. Because then I can say, 无毛视频楪ee, I remember when this was what tree, and all over the property. So now I无毛视频檓 recycling it. It无毛视频檚 not dying completely,无毛视频� Altman said.