It was a beautiful day in a beautiful setting, at Donner Park in Columbus on the first Sunday of November. Jim Dietz, Sports Director at the Columbus Visitors Center (shown below, right), had heard from the Parks and Recreation staff that a tree had recently fallen in the park, and, having seen Rick Nasby demonstrating his art at the local Farmer's Market, a light bulb went off : instead of taking down the tree stump, let's see what Rick might do with it! They explained to the crowd that had gathered what they were about to see...

Having grown up in Columbus, and having spent many hours in Donner Park as a child, Rick had a child's enthusiasm at the prospect of being able to work his magic in the very place he'd once enjoyed so much years earlier. So, the Columbus in Bloom organization jumped in and alloted the funds to make it happen. Once all the ducks were lined up, Rick was ready to roll...

After an hour setting up, and after several ideas had been sketched out, Rick was ready with a half dozen chain saws of various sizes and blade types, and he thoughtfully approached the task ahead of him, pondering the bears inside that piece of wood just waiting to be released...

The crowd that had gathered watched anxiously as Rick was, somehow, going to carve the bears he'd sketched into that stump. A group of teenagers, curious to see what was yet to happen, moved the park's picnic tables, eager to get a closer look. The tree, an ash, was a hard wood and didn't yield to Rick's saw easily...

Still, a couple of hours later, the bears emerged and the wide-eyes of the kids and amazed looks on the faces of the adults said it all : the idea was a wild success! All that was left was to burn the wood and Rick's son stepped in to put on the final touches...

Once the burning was completed, a varnish was applied to protect the artwork from the elements and now it will become yet another unexpected discovery in the community of Columbus, as people walk along the path of the park and spot something unfamiliar and, approaching, realize to their delight that there are bear cubs peering out of what was to become only another empty space in the park where an ash tree once stood.

Rick brought along other work samples, like the little fellow below, and there were many excited discussions in the crowd about the possibilities of having Rick do something for them in their own yards!

To visit Rick's website, click HERE.