Members of the Kickapoo Karvers Woodcarving Club are among those participating in this weekend’s Vermilion River Fall Festival and Farmers Market. Jim Gilliland of Danville says he has been carving about 15 years. He was introduced to it by his brother.
Gilliland says he enjoys carving the small stuff and then giving it away.
‘’I make a bunch of owls and I give them away to the kids. And I imagine I’ve passed out at least a thousand of them,’’ said Gilliland. ‘’I’ve got about forty blanks right here today to start carving and give them away to the kids. And we really enjoy it.’’
So what is it that makes woodcarving so enjoyable?
‘’It’s really relaxing,’’ says Gilliland. ‘’You’re thinking about what you’re doing and everything else is gone. You don’t realize what’s going across the street from you. If you’re carving out on the front porch – which I do once in a while – cars go by – I don’t even know they’re there. It’s just relaxing.’’
You can find the Kickapoo Karvers inside one of the many big tents that are part of this weekend’s Vermilion River Fall Festival at Danville’s Ellsworth Park. And as they display and sell their carvings this weekend, Gilliland says they will be working on more of them.
If you are interested in possibly joining their group, Gilliland says the club holds its meetings on the first and third Thursday of evening month at 7:00 p.m. at the Danville Public Library.
[Ellsworth Park is located just west of Danville’s downtown area along U.S. Route 150 or West Main Street.]
