TRR photo by Tom Kane Woodcarver Ed Schmidt works on an eagle in his studio. (Click for larger image)

Wooden eagle finally gets its wings

By TOM KANE

JEFFERSONVILLE — A wooden carving of an American bald eagle with a seven-foot wing span is being reborn at the skilled hands of woodcarver and colorist Ed Schmidt.

The eagle dominates Schmidt’s small workroom at the Rubino Studios on Route 52.

The bird belongs to Bernard Spinard of Shohola, PA, an antiques dealer in Westchester for 40 years who moved to Shohola permanently after owning his weekend home for 15 years.

“When I saw the eagle, I fell in love with it,” Spinard said. “It’s a marvelous bird.”

Originally intended for the American Bicentennial Celebration in 1976, the eagle never made it because the man who created it, Allen Tennay, died in 1972. Tenney was an avid woodcarver, especially of birds and other wild life.

Tenney’s widow, who lived next door to Spinard, showed him the eagle one day quite by accident.

“When I say Ed Schmidt’s ad in The River Reporter, I called him up and offered him a commission to finish the job,” Spinard said.

Schmidt, who also plays the role of Nomo the clown at festivals to entertain children, is an experienced woodcarver and colorist, who carved the totem at the Woodstock site and another plaque there that commemorates Jimmie Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Jerry Garcia.

For years, Schmidt was a counselor in New York City and at Daytop Village in Sullivan County.

“I’m cleaning the bird up, refining the feathers and removing a lot of epoxy with these tiny drills I got from Gerry Triolo, the dentist in Jeffersonville,” Schmidt said. “They’re very fine drills that may not be good any more for drilling teeth, but they’re just right for this.”

As to the eagle’s future, Spinard says, “I’m not going to sell it; I love it so much.”