URI Alton Jones campus hosts range of 'wood' land creatures

11/14/08 - Twelve years ago, the only animals inhabiting the University of Rhode Island's Alton Jones campus were alive. Now, a mix of wooden animals, accumulated from the annual handiwork of the New England Woodcarvers Retreat, grace the West Greenwich campus. The Mystic Carvers Club of Mystic, Conn., sponsors the Retreat, which is held during Columbus Day weekend of each year.

Alton Jones has been its host for the past 12 years, and for 11 years, the carvers have traditionally bestowed a wooden animal sculpture to the campus as a tribute to their host site.

A range of wooden animals has since cropped up on campus, located mostly by the Environmental Education Center.

These include a life-size bear, a few raccoons, a doe and her two fawns and a ram's head mounted over the fireplace to honor the Rhody mascot.

"The first carving was the bear," recalled Linda Fraunfelter, a manager of food service and facilities at Alton Jones who also has a longtime involvement in the event's coordination. Johnson cites the 7-foot bear as the largest wooden animal made thus far.

Not all the sculptures are necessarily indigenous to the area; there is a moose found in front of the Environmental Education Center dining lodge, as well as an eagle.

One oddball sculpture is the Lorax, a fictional Dr. Seuss creature, which the carvers made for the pleasure of the young Alton Jones campers who put on a skit featuring none other than this character.

Ray Johnson, co-chair of the retreat since its inception, said his personal favorite is the red-tail hawk, though he is also partial to the three Canadian geese depicted in flight that were carved this year.

He said all the animals have a certain history surrounding them.

"The doe and fawns were actually done over two years," Fraunfelter said.

First came the doe, then the two fawns were crafted the following year. All three deer have "wooden cookie" necklaces -circular wood chips - bearing their names: Bucky, Bambi, and Rambo. The tradition of naming the animals started when Fraunfelter placed a wooden cookie on the bear, dubbing him "Pete."

The amount of time and number of people working on each wooden animal varies with respect to the size and complexity of the piece. The bear is made of pine log, but most of the animals are made of bass wood from Linden trees, Johnson said.

He said the raccoons were made from a tulip tree trunk.

The tools used typically included a mallet and chisel, though a chain saw was needed for the bear and raccoons.

All carvings were finished with a clear matte sealant. Johnson said each piece required a great deal of teamwork, and he estimated he puts in 20 to 25 hours of prep work fashioning pieces prior to the weekend.

The woodcarvers at the retreat put in long hours as well, from about 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. But for Johnson, crafting the animals is a labor of love.

"I've been carving for 20 years," he said. "It's basically a hobby."

The retreat now boasts 75 attendees, growing from its original 13 . The event features daytime classes in an array of carving topics such as caricatures and leaf carving. Fraunfelter said the woodcarvers hail from not only New England, "but also England and Australia, so it is really an international event."

Also at the event, the carvers congregate to make an all-important decision: the project to be carved the following year.

However, Johnson was only able to divulge one tidbit about next year's idea. "It won't be an animal," he said.

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