Carving out retreat

CAREFULLY CARVING – Kevin Roach started his carving of an owl on a stack of books early Saturday morning. His carving will join two others in the Decatur Public Library’s reading garden. Messenger photo by Allie Tribe

The Decatur Public Library unveiled its reading garden 11 years ago. It includes shady trees, benches and has served as a place for visitors to read while soaking up the fresh air. After a decade, the library encountered some bone-chilling issues during the historic freeze in February.

Due to the extreme temperatures and prolonged freezing, the library lost many of the trees in the reading garden.

“During the spring and summer months, people do like to go out there. During the summer when we do our free summer meals for the children, they’ll go out there and eat lunch,” said Denice Herrera, the library technician and marketing coordinator. “It’s a very nice little spot.”

Some might chalk it up to a loss and cut down the affected trees. But rather than give up, the library saw an opportunity and called on local wood carving artist, Kevin Roach.

“We had all seen the artwork that had been done for Cary Bohn’s business. When the trees turned out to be dead from the winter storm, I believe Dawn [Wilbert, Director of the Decatur Public Library] reached out and tried to see what we could do about making something similar,” Herrera said.

Roach started carving about four years ago, and his work ranges from intricately carved cardinals and heads, to a bench outside of Cary Bohn’s. The most impressive aspect of Roach’s work lies in his tool of choice – a chainsaw.

When he was first approached by the library, Roach was ready to try his hand at doing more work for the public.

“I was excited. A lot of my work is for private residences, so it doesn’t get seen by many people,” Roach said. “It’s nice to be able to provide public carvings for everyone to enjoy.”

Roach, along with fellow carver Jimmy Hobbs of Grand Saline, carved a Sasquatch holding a library book and an owl perched on a stack of books last Saturday. For the third piece, Roach plans to carve a fairy tale house. Along with the carvings in the reading garden, a piece donated from Cary Bohn and Roach will be displayed inside the library.

The carvings and art piece being displayed inside the library are made possible thanks to donations. The artists and other artworks have been acquired through donations from the Roy and Jeannine Eaton and in honor of Chuck Heaberlin, in honor of his wife Sue Heaberlin, and their children Julia and Doug Heaberlin.

ATTRACTING A CROWD – A small crowd watches as Jimmy Hobbs begins his carving of a Sasquatch holding books. Kevin Roach and Hobbs were the two artists carving at the Decatur Public Library Saturday morning. Messenger photo by Allie Tribe

“It is so gratifying to know we have such a generous community of library supporters,” Wilbert said. “The donations of these pieces of art will be a lasting testament of their generosity and support of Decatur Public Library.”

Roach and Hobbs began their first two carvings Saturday morning and planned to finish up the third over the coming weeks. The carvings of the Sasquatch, owl on books and fairy tale house can all be found in the library’s reading garden, with another piece soon to be on display inside the library. With all the new carvings and attractions in the reading garden, Herrera already has a favorite picked out.

“I am personally super excited to see the bigfoot. That’s the one that I am very excited to see completed,” said Herrera. “I’m not sure about the rest of the staff, but that’s my vote.”