Jason at Cheerios 50th Anniversary.
Jason was on the grounds crew for General
Mills in Minneapolis, MN.
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Where's Waldo???
Stephen and Bonnie shown here on
the front page of the Minneapolis Star Tribune rockin' out at the Hennepin
Avenue Block Party to kick off the Minneapolis Aquatennial.
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Bonnie enticing people to the Grand
Opening of
her company's (Vanman Construction) new
building
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Hugh in the music business
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Grandma Georgia Breakin' the Law!!
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Hap Halberstadt of Ventura displays a few of the many wood carvings he has
crafted.
This story published
online:
January 17, 2003
Enter Hap's wooden wonderland
At 88, he’s curator of a wooden zoo, and creator of such carvings as Don
Quixote and his horse
By DICK JOHNSON, Of The Globe Gazette
VENTURA - Hap Halberstadt likes to talk about his visit to a national wood
carvers' convention near
Phoenix
about 10 years ago.
He and wife Mary were camping nearby when Hap heard the convention was in
progress. He approached a friend in the campground.
"I said, 'Let's take off and leave the women and be gone all day!' "
he said.
They did, and they were.
"That was fantastic," Hap said. "There was so much interesting
stuff that I thought, 'That'd be kind of fun.' "
He fell hard for the wood-carver's life. At 88, he's curator of an exotic wooden
zoo inhabited by home-made loons,
Canada
geese, bald eagles and dogs, among other creations.
Hap's basement hideaway also is home to humongous mounted fish, dog and pheasant
clocks, and wooden relief carvings featuring the Marlboro Man, Superstition
Mountain in Phoenix and Hawaii's Diamond Head volcano.
He examines two of his favorite carvings: legendary dreamer Don Quixote sitting
tall aboard his poor cart horse, Rocinante, and a stout little cowboy who
emerged from a block of wood, chaps, spurs and all.
"He's kind of a hard-looking critter," Hap said. "But I kind of
like him."
The retired trucker, a native of Keosauqua, also canes chairs, and braids and
weaves woolen rugs when he and Mary aren't gardening or gone fishing.
He tells stories and displays some of his creations near a small plaque which
reads: "Opinions expressed by the husband in this house are not necessarily
those of the management."
The boss said she's quite proud of said husband's work. He gave two bald eagles,
carved from maple, to his son, Ray, who lives in
Des Moines
,
and son-in-law Doug Downing, of
Mascoutah
,
Ill.
The eagles' dark "feathers" were created by burning the wood. Hap
needed about a year to finish each of the birds.
"He didn't go to any classes for wood carving or anything," Mary said.
"He liked to do it and just picked it up. He just sits down and does what
he wants to do with it. He enjoys it, and I think he does good work."
"I do about anything," Hap said. "It's something to do. It keeps
you busy. I keep busy all the time. I can't sit around and watch the world
turn."
Reach Dick Johnson at 421-0556 or dick.johnson@globegazette.com.
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