Parker’s carvings a comfort to residents
Tom Parker of Friendship Village shows off some of his intricate carvings, a mother hippopotamus and her baby.
Tom Parker stands besides one of his largest carvings, a Canada goose.
When Tom Parker was 12 years old, his mother gave him, and his twin brother Steve, a small jackknife for Christmas. About the size of his little finger, he said.
Parker would whittle sticks for fires at scout camp. He also skinned squirrels, rabbits and other small animals.
“I carried that knife everywhere,” Parker said.
As the years passed, through college at the University of Kentucky and his time in the military, Parker put the knife aside. Then, in 1972, he used the knife to whittle a small dog. Eight years later, he took an adult education course at Mt. Lebanon High School and began to carve in earnest.
Now, at the age of 79, Parker still has that knife, although the years have taken a toll and the blade has become fragile. It is no longer serviceable.
After moving to Friendship Village in Upper St. Clair in February of 2009, Parker discovered the senior retirement community has a well-equipped wood shop.
“I go down there an awful lot. We had a woman mail carrier here last year or so and I asked her to deliver my mail there,” he said with a hearty laugh.
The apartment he shares with his companion, Chris, is filled with his carvings from hummingbirds on flowers, to abstract small pine trees, to hippopotamus statues — that she collects –to crosses, to a life-size goose.
His most recent carvings are of small comfort birds, a pattern he found in an article in “Woodcraving Illustrated” in 2011.
He uses a number of different woods including pine, oak, cherry, mahogany, holly, maple, walnut, butternut and cedar. Each wood produces a unique grain when sanded and stained. Lumber for the tiny birds is found in local home improvement stores and even from the scraps other residents leave in the workshop.
He’s given about 32 comfort birds to the patients in the heath center at Friendship Village. Each bird is about 4 1/4 inches by 2 inches by 1 3/4 inches, and fits easily in the palm of the hand. The time it takes to carve and complete a bird is never calculated. A retired mechanical engineer, Parker has the time and doesn’t rush.
Although his birds remain in the retirement community, Parker said similar wood carvings are used to comfort those in need, the homeless, the blind and those affected by Hurricane Katrina.
Although the knife from long ago is too precious to use, Parker sticks with one he bought 41 years ago. The older one is cracked and held together with baling wire. It is still useful and is preferred over a newer one he recently purchased.
Birds are not his only wooden creations. Many of the residents of the retirement community read using large print books that can be cumbersome. Asked by an administrator, Parker’s creative mind went to work. He designed a lap book holder made from plywood and a lap desk he found at a discount store. He’s made two so far, and will make more if asked.
His largest carving is a goose that rests near the sliding glass door in his apartment. It leads to a small porch that is home to a hummingbird feeder. Parker never carves people or houses, preferring to stick with animals and the occasional pine tree. For the holidays last December he carved ornaments in the shape of trees and candy canes.
Carving is not his only past time. He was recently elected to coordinate the small grocery store at Friendship Village. It operates every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday and residents may purchase non-perishable foods. Parker oversees 12 helpers and six substitutes to deliver the groceries.
His next project is unknown. Nothing big, he said. For now, Parker is content to spend his time carving small comfort birds for those who need an act of kindness.