A Finer
Frontier In the pioneering spirit of
the family before them,
Bob and Bessie are making their own contribution to
the Toombs County community. “Bob is a true artist,”
said Bessie. “But he’s more of a good ‘ole country boy.’
He’s kind and soft-spoken, and I’m the extrovert of the
century.” Bob gave her a smile. “When we combined
forces, I took over marketing, so he could focus on new
projects. We named our new venture ‘A Finer Frontier.’”
Now, instead of depending on word of mouth, Bessie
put Bob’s woodwork on social media. She also set up an
Etsy shop. “We go to every artisan market and arts and
crafts festival we can find,” said Bessie. “We’ll set up a
tent and table anywhere.” She has discovered her own
untapped woodworking skills adding beautiful cedar
chests, jewelry boxes, and other forms of boxes made
from reclaimed wood to their repertoire.
Among Bob’s most popular products are his beautiful
hand-carved spoons. Another bestseller is personalized
wooden plaques. “With the CNC machine computer
numerical control router,” said Bob, “we can personalize
plaques of reclaimed wood with letters, numbers, even
scenes and images from pictures.” He pointed to a
beautiful wood carving engraved with an image of their
niece Vivian.
Another bestseller has been his handmade earrings
that utilize everything from the tips of cast-off deer
antlers to left-over wood shavings from the wood shop
floor.
Every hand-crafted product is made from wood and/
or other natural/sustainable materials. “There are plenty
of felled trees in the woods from hurricanes or that have
been struck by lightning,” said Bob. “We’ll drag it out
of the woods, cut it up at the saw mill, and stack it into
boards. We sometimes barter with people who bring a
tree to our saw mill. We may cut it up for a portion of the
wood. Or perhaps they’ll want us to make a bench with a
name or a verse engraved into it or a beautiful wood table
for the family to gather around because it was on their
land for a hundred years.”
“A local guy brought us an ancient piece of black
walnut he happened on fishing in the Altamaha
River,” said Bessie. “Bob used the wood to make the
most beautiful spoons and bowls.” But bartering isn’t
necessarily limited to the wood they receive from use of
the saw mill. A few months ago, Bessie came up just as
a customer asked Bob what he owed for a customized
plaque. Noticing the wild boar piglets in the back of his
truck, Bessie insisted on one as part of his payment.
When toilet paper, bleach, and other items
disappeared almost overnight from grocery store
shelves in the wake of the covid-pandemic, Bessie and
Bob realized just how quickly provisions could become
HOMETOWN LIVING AT I TS BEST 43
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