Cascade Cuts Spring 2018 "Carving is the result of a dream, of a vision, of a spiritual message. It is possible for anyone, any age, and young people in particular, to remember their dreams."
~Pauline Hillaire Visionary Work: Speaking Across Generations Lummi carver Felix Solomon has undertaken the project of a lifetime. This was something I dreamed of, but never imagined was possible, he said on a recent sunny spring day. His creation, the product of his vision and inspired by the style of master carver Joe Hillaire, is a 38-foot totem pole depicting the story of Lummi from the peaks of the mountains down to the sea. Felix calls it visionary work, and it truly is: shaping the cedar timber (which weighed in at about 10,000 pounds before work began) and drawing forth the animals and people the spirits of the Salish people requires eyes that can see the future and the past all together in one beautiful piece of wood. Felix Solomon s career as a carver, though less than two decades old, is already storied; his work has made it far beyond Whatcom County, and far beyond Washington state, to the National Museum of the Native American Indian in Washington, DC, and even overseas. Felix says he s not in the driver s seat for this extraordinary ride that has brought him commissions like this enormous totem pole he credits the spirits of the elders and the master carvers who came before him. He has spent years in study, not only learning his craft, which is done exclusively by hand with the help of two other accomplished carvers, but also absorbing the history of the Lummi and studying the work and style of master carvers like Joe Hillaire, Morrie Alexander, Al Charles, and more. You might wonder, where does Cascade Joinery come into this picture? A challenge of gravity, weight, and engineering emerged as the project got underway: if a totem of this size is going to be vertical, how is it raised, and
then how is it stabilized and secured once it is raised? Cascade Joinery cofounder Craig Aument has cut the slots and lands at the base of the pole so it may be mounted securely, with metal rods crossing the base for additional stability. This work by Cascade Joinery, though small in the big scheme of this piece of art, provides the critical foundation for the totem pole to guarantee its ability to stand vertically but also preserves its aesthetic and the vision of the artist.
Watch the Carvers at Work Restoring a Memorial to the Korean War Nestled among the trees in Bellingham s Big Rock Garden Park, the Korean War Children s Memorial Pavilion honors U.S. servicemen and women for their humanitarian aid during the Korean War. The Army of Compassion saved the lives of over 10,000 children, and this memorial is the only one in the U.S. or abroad dedicated to those troops and the children they protected and helped to survive. Orphanage administrators reported that over 90% of their aid came from servicemen and women, and their children would have died without that support. The memorial pavilion was completed in 2006, but over the next decade, the weight of the ceramic tiles that make up the roof totaling nearly two tons! began to take a toll on the structure. Cascade Joinery was asked by the City of Bellingham to step in to restore the pavilion. With support from the engineers at
Fire Tower Engineered Timber, the team at Cascade went to work fabricating the materials necessary to reinforce the roof structure. After jacking up the beams to as near level as possible, we installed new steel plates, bolts, and many fasteners to hold the beams together. This may sound simple enough, but it required us to lift five eave timbers from their supportive housings at five star points in order to complete the remediation work, and then set them back into their housings and secure them. Dr. George Drake and his wife Mary Ann donated the property that makes up Big Rock Garden Park near the top of Alabama Hill; he then led the effort to build the memorial pavilion. At the close of the original dedication event in 2006, Dr. Drake, a Korean War veteran, said, Never before, in the fifty years since the armistice that ended the Korean War, has there been any formal recognition of the aid that the American Armed Forces rendered the children of Korea. We have now closed that gap, and as the history of that ugly war is written and rewritten it will have to include the recognition that even in times of war the American servicemen and women take with them to battle their love of children and do all they can to save the lives of those innocent victims and help them survive. Cascade Joinery is proud to have helped secure Dr. Drake s vision and ensure the Korean War Children s Memorial Pavilion will stand for decades to come. Cascade Joinery to Host Rigging Workshop
Cascade Joinery has partnered with the Timber Framers Guild to offer a comprehensive rigging workshop by the Crosby Group, a leading supplier of material handling equipment, on Friday, May 11. Many jurisdictions, including Washington state, require a qualified rigger for certain activities; the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) defines a qualified rigger in part as a person that has extensive knowledge, training, and experience and can successfully demonstrate the ability to solve problems related to rigging loads. This seminar includes instruction in basic rigging principles and load control, application and inspection of hardware and slings, rigging math, risk management and the basic rigging plan, and more. By attending, you will gain the knowledge to become a qualified rigger and make connections in your industry. Where: Cascade Joinery, 1349 Pacific Pl, Ferndale, WA 98248 When: 8 a.m. 5 p.m., Friday, May 11 Cost: $300 TFG Member, $350 Non-Member Sponsorships are available, contact cassandra@tfguild.org for more information. Register Now!