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PAGE 18 · Visiting The Smokies In Cocke County, March, 2006
| Huskey returned to the mountains to carve out a living as a | |
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"I once thought I had a deprived childhood," says local artist Ed Huskey, "but after spending 30 years looking at this old world through the windshield of a big rig, I know now how lucky I was. We didn't have much in the way of possessions, but my Father taught me to think, to always do my best, and to make do with what I have."
Ed's family were all mountain folk from the Greenbriar area, now known as Pitman Center. Ed was born in Dumpling Valley and raised on a farm there. Like most youths raised in a remote area, Ed longed for the change to get out and make something of himself. He took a job as an over the road trucker, which he held for 30 years |
Ed Huskey |
"Sevierville is a busy place with lots of traffic lights," chuckles Husky, "By the time we got across town I finally gota real kiss from the love of my life!"
They were married the following May. "I guess you could say we eloped" smiles Ed. "I was working with the crew on her house, and we slipped off together. We got our license, and went to Jimmy Temple's chapel. But the gal there said, 'Jimmy's always here to marry folks, but today he's not here.' So we went to the chapel over by the Holiday Inn in Pigeon Forge and got married."
Today Brenda works as a Special Education Teacher for the Del Rio school system, and the Huskeys serve as a foster home for "challenging" teen boys.
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bowl maker
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- until health issues forced him to retire. By this time Ed had decided that this part of the country wasn't such a bad place to live after all, and he came home.
Ed met his wife, Brenda, while camping. They used to vacation in the same campground - her camper was across the way from his. They actually met for the first time when Ed hosted a birthday party at his camper for a mutual friends' daughter. Brenda and her first husband, also a truck driver, attended.
When Brenda's first husband died, |
Ed became interested in woodworking when he found a need to make Christmas gifts for their boys to give to family members. He used unwanted scraps and discarded cut-offs that were given to him to help the boys make small boxes, stools, door name plates and such. Then a wind storm took down a large tree in a neighboring widow's yard. Ed and the boys cleared away the mess; just being good neighbors, and the neighbor said they could have anything usable. The lumber turned out to be spalted ambrosia maple - an exceptionally beautiful wood.
Being strapped for funds, Ed concocted a make-shift lumber mill from a second hand chain saw he had purchased for $40.00, some PVC pipe and assorted hardware that was laying around. With this he slabbed out the logs, and has been using the lumber in his projects since.
He picked up some woodworking experience through serving as helper and apprentice for well known wood turner Ray Huskey at his Village Craft Shop in Gatlinburg. |
And when they said how much they liked them, I thought is was because they were family and had to say it. Still, coming from a family that has always done handcrafts, it made me feel pretty warm inside. Ray encouraged me and gave me confidence. He said he thought my bowls would sell, and would wholesale them for me through his shop. But it surprises me when people who don't have to, tell me how much they like my bowls."
Ed once got a note from a Gentleman in Georgia who had bought one of his bowls. The man had had his bowl for only a week, but already his daughters had made up a list of who would get the bowl on which days of the week after his death. Ed's bowl had immediately taken the #1 spot on this family's list of heirlooms!
If you'd like to have one of Ed's bowls, they are available through
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she stopped camping for about a year. When she was ready to resume, Jack - their mutual friend - asked Ed to go with him to get Brenda's camper from her home and set it up in the camp ground.
When Jack and Ed arrived to get the camper, Brenda met them on her front porch, in her PJs. Ed was smitten!
While Ed and Brenda spent a good deal of time together, it always included Brenda's two sons. They didn't have their first "official" date for 3 years; they went to a movie together - just the two of them.
In February of 1995, Brenda hired Ed as part of a crew to build her a log home. That spring, Brenda accompanied Ed to Knoxville to purchase the bathtubs for her house.
"Brenda has always been a woman of strong moral character." Explains Ed, "But I decided to have some fun. Coming back, through Seveirville, we stopped at a busy traffic light at Route 66. I turned to her and said, 'Give me a kiss.' She said 'No.' I said, 'Give me a kiss or I'm not moving this truck, not one inch."
The light turned green, and he sat there. And she sat there. The horns started to blow, Brenda turned red with embarrassment and began to squirm. Finally she leaned over and gave Ed a little peck on the cheek. He put the truck in motion.
At the next light he repeated the scene, but demanded a real kiss. Again she resisted, but finally relented with a peck.
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With this experience, a good deal of ingenuity and some God given talent, Ed has been creating beautiful wooden items ever since.
"I didn't know I had any talent," says Ed, "I've always been a whittler, and we always had to 'make-do' when I was a kid, so I come by that naturally. But I didn't know I could do this. I had to make most of my tools because we couldn't afford to buy good ones."
"I started making these bowls as gifts for my family. With this experience, a good deal of ingenuity and some God given talent, Ed has been creating beautiful wooden items ever since.
"I didn't know I had any talent," says Ed, "I've always been a whittler, and we always had to 'make-do' when I was a kid, so I come by that naturally. But I didn't know I could do this. I had to make most of my tools because we couldn't afford to buy good ones."
"I started making these bowls as gifts for my family. |
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the Highlands Crafts Guild, and Treasures of Appalachia in Cosby.
"I got involved with Treasures' by picked up a Visiting the Smokies Guide at Shoney's in town." Says Huskey , "I was interested in the craft shows and brought a bowl in for them to look at. I'm very impressed with 'Treasures' and eager to begin teaching classes where people can learn to make gifts for their family, and to pass on what I've learned."
Ed is a firm believer in sharing with others.
"Our world has gotten so busy that people don't take the time to sit and talk to folks. To learn from them, and take away some knowledge that is theirs for free… if they just take a little time."
Treasures of Appalachia, Inc. is a non-profit Art & Craft Gallery that offers the works of 39 Cocke County artisans. Everything in the store is locally made, and hand crafted. They also host Art & Craft Gatherings that are open to all artists, crafters, and performers. You may reach the gallery at (423) 487-3111 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.. Or you may contact Len and Varena Landrum at (423) 487-5448 or Doug & Marie Bittinger at (423) 623-9692 or log onto www.TreasuresOfAppalachia.com |
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