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Post-Standard,
The (Syracuse, NY) February 21, 2002
FORMER GYM TEACHER MARY CHAPPELL SETS UP A STORE IN HER HOUSE Nick Serrano Contributing writer When Mary
Chappell sees something she likes, her first thought usually is:
What would that look like in wood?
Known in the Skaneateles area craft community for her woodworking
skills, Chappell decided in July to pull her items out of the craft
stores and start her own business called "In Wood." "I've got the time now to do whatever I want to do,"
Chappell said. "So I put this shop together and try to keep it
filled with things that people would like."
Chappell has never taken a woodworking class. She learned
everything she knows about the craft from books and other crafters.
Most of Chappell's business is made to order. Customers
often order items such as plaques and signs.
"If you ask me for something, and I think I can do it, I'll do it,"
she said.
But some customers browse the small inventory of natural-looking
crafts in her shop.
Most of the crafts are small statues, carvings and trinkets shaped
like animals. Many have holiday themes, such as a set of wooden hearts
tied to ribbons for Valentine's Day and a picture of Santa Claus carved
out of wood.
Chappell taught physical education at Marcellus Central
School for 23 years and also coached girls soccer and girls volleyball
there. Some of the first items she made were sports plaques for the
graduating athletes.
Chappell also loves birds and has made many bird items,
including a set of napkin rings shaped like different species from the
area.
She sells the items out of her wood shop, which she added onto the
back of her home in Spafford about seven years ago. Most of the woods
Chappell uses are indigenous to the area - butternut, walnut and
maple. She also likes to scavenge through abandoned barns for scrap boards
and will buy other expensive woods such as cherry for special projects.
Chappell started woodworking in the 1950s as a hobby. She
moved on to selling items in craft fairs and local craft stores before
deciding to open her own store. The Cat's Whiskers, a Skaneateles area
craft store, sold Chappell's items for about 10 years.
"Almost everything we have is handmade, so her things fit right in
because they were handmade, and wood is very big here," said Millie
Sharpe, who owns the store with her husband, Bob. "Her things were great
here."
Chappell's items were especially popular in the summertime,
when tourists flock to Skaneateles, Sharpe said.
Sharpe said she directs customers to In Wood if they are looking
for Chappell's items.
Ideas for several items occurred to Chappell after she saw
something she liked. Once she saw a cross at church that she thought was
pretty, so she made a small wooden replica.
Chappell is especially partial to hummingbirds, so she made
a bunch of small trinkets, shaped like the darting birds, with wooden
bodies and metal wings.
Chappell uses both heavy machines and hand tools. Although
she is used to the machines, she had one accident.
She was using a motorized planer to shave a piece of wood when the
planer hit a knot, causing her right hand to slip into the blade. The
planer sliced off the tip of her middle finger and skinned the tops of two
other fingers.
The accident did not deter her from woodworking, though.
"I can't deal cards too well with my right hand," she said. "But it
hasn't really affected my work."
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