Finished ornaments are shown at Widmer’s Jewelry and Casting Shop in the Ozark Folk Center Craft Village in Mountain View.


Want to buy one?


You can visit the shop in the Ozark Folk Center, 1032 Park Ave., Mountain View, order online, or attend the Craft show on Nov. 23-24 (see the calendar in this edition of Living Well). Find them online http:// www.lindawidmerjewelry.com/


of real tin soldiers likely cast from these molds. These creations are the work of the Widmer family


—Charles, his wife Linda, and Charles’ son, Chuck. Carving has long been a family affair, although Chuck joined the fold recently. At the height of his career, Charles Widmer carved


an eagle for Jimmy Carter’s Presidential Library and Museum in Atlanta, which is still displayed in the library. For six to seven months in the winter of 1984-85,


Charles would hover over the piece, sway from side to side as he worked, and slowly chipped away at a single piece of black walnut. “At the base, two people couldn’t get their arms


around it. It was hundreds and hundreds of pounds,” the 71-year-old said.


Charles and Linda Widmer and their son, Chuck, are shown at their shop in Mountain View.


When it was finished, the eagle’s wingspan was 9


feet across. It was a masterpiece. “That was the best work we ever did together,”


Charles said. He keeps a scrapbook of photos in the shop and has several pictures of the eagle. A self-taught carver, Charles Widmer spent 40


8 Living Well i November/December 2017


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36