It was a bad ticker that led Bob Fulp into the business of selling some homemade Christmas spirit.
As he sipped a Chai tea, the tall, slim and healthy looking Fulp, 76, laid several hand-carved wooden Christmas Tree ornaments across a table.
This past year, the longtime wood carver underwent a successful quadruple heart bypass surgery and began his recovery.
“They wouldn’t hardly let me do anything. It was driving me crazy, so I took out my wood-carving tools and went at it hard,” Fulp said.
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Feeling up to the challenge, Fulp used his long practiced wood-carving skills to make hundreds of Christmas ornaments. Some were designed as cartoon characters, others carried a religious theme and others yet were traditional Christmas symbols. Some were colorfully painted, and others were created using plain bass wood.
Fulp took up the craft of wood carving 40 years ago.
His hobby took root in 1978 as an assistant scoutmaster on a week-long Boy Scout camping trip.
During the trip, Fulp learned that scoutmaster Wally Futterer was looking for a wooden, boot-shaped knickknack for his collection. Wanting to thank Futterer for all he had done for the Scouts, Fulp set out to get a wooden boot for him.
“I couldn’t find a wood boot anywhere. Ceramic boots yes, but no wooden ones. So, I decided to make one myself,” Fulp said. “I had no idea what I was doing. I used an old pocket knife on pine, but I did it and it turned OK.”
Deciding that he liked wood carving, Fulp joined the Hoosier Wood Carver Club to learn more about the craft.
“There were some real masters in the Hoosier Club. People like Frank Gutknecht and Gary McKinney were my mentors. I remember Gutknecht always said ‘Every woodcarver has his own method; there is no one right way of doing this.’ I really got caught up in it,” Fulp said.
He bought a set of wood-carving tools and studied different types of wood.
Within a year, Fulp was receiving commissions to make wooden statues of horses and dogs. He began making and selling wooden belt buckles. Fulp produced wooden owls that sold in a store in Nashville. He was even commissioned to restore damaged wooden trim in a church in Waynesville.
“I was cranking,” Fulp said.
Turning to ornaments
In 1979, Fulp began the annual tradition of making a wooden Christmas tree ornament for every member in his extended family.
Every ornament came complete with his signed initials, with the year and the recipient’s name on the back. Now, the family has grown and he makes more than 40 ornaments for family and friends — still individually signed and dated.
Through the years, Fulp also donated some of his work to local Boy Scout dens and church groups to be used as incentives.
“Every year he gave me around 20 ornaments for my junior Bible class, so I had seen his work and I knew he was very talented. I was so happy to see him actually selling some of his work at the (Nov. 10) 12 Dames of Christmas Craft show this year,” craft enthusiast Sue Wilber said.
“I like to go to all kinds of craft shows and I can tell you that you won’t see many hand-made wooden things at craft shows anymore,” Wilber said.
She described wood carving as a dying art.
“I never thought about selling Christmas Tree ornaments. That’s just what I did for the family. But when my son (Brian) saw all the extra ornaments I had made while I was recovering, he insisted I should sell them, and he helped me get into business by creating advertisements for me,” Fulp said.
Fulp’s ornaments are made in the round or as relief carvings in bass, cedar or cherry wood. They vary in size and sell for $8 to $25 each.
In an effort to keep up with the demand for his Christmas ornaments, Fulp has been working long hours in his shop — marked off in a corner of his garage. His two cats and a family of possums occasionally drop by keep him company.
Barb, his wife of more than 55 years, also checks in on him.
“He is very talented and he is very passionate about it, and it makes him happy — so I am glad he does it,” Barb Fulp said. “But sometimes I do worry that, since his surgery, he might be overdoing it. Like when he was getting ready for the 12 Dames of Christmas Craft Show, he was in the garage for hours and hours.”
The couple met when they attended Columbus High School and married while Bob was serving in the Air Force from 1960 through 1963. After Bob was discharged from the Air Force, the Fulps established their home in Columbus, where they raised their son, Brian. Bob worked in sales, but is now retired.
“Something like open heart surgery can really change the way you think about things. It’s so important to enjoy the good things in life and to try new things and expand your thinking,” he said.
Fulp said he won’t be starting on any new ornaments until after the New Year, but will spend time on new designs throughout the winter “that really capture the special magic of Christmas.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Bob Fulp” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
Age: 76
Hobby: Wood carving
Residence: Bartholomew County native, lives in Columbus.
Family: Wife, Barbara; son Brian and wife Anita Fulp and four grandchildren live in Pennsylvania.
Making contact: To learn more about Bob Fulp’s ornaments or other wood carvings, call 812-350-6974 or email: [email protected]
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