Heirloom Project

Laura had a couple of small projects she wanted done for her wedding.

Both turned out very cute, but one ended up being something even more.

It started out as an idea from Pinterest – their initials on weathered barn boards.

She found the wooden initials and hoped that a search through our pole barn would yield some neat barn boards that could be used to create the background.

But it didn’t.

So we talked to Papa Jim – hoping he had something in his stash.

He, however, had a better idea.

Remember my Grandpa’s barn that was going to be taken down? It was still standing and had a lot of barn boards.

A quick call to my Uncle Delbert and we had access to all the wood we needed!

But wait – there’s more.

As the guys were cutting away at the boards in the barn – Uncle Delbert told me to run to his Ranger and grab the saw in the back.  I carried the old rusty tool back, wondering why in the world they needed it since the nice new saw seemed to be working just fine.

But Uncle Delbert took it, handed it my dad and said, “This was my grandpa’s saw.”

Then the reality of the situation hit me and I grabbed Jan’s phone to record it.

Laura’s grandpa was cutting wood from her great-grandpa’s barn using her great-great-grandpa’s saw to make an original piece to decorate for her wedding and later on her home.

How cool is that.

She doesn’t just have a one-of-a-kind piece, she has a bit of history.

It’s a heritage piece that goes back three generations and is anchored deep in the farm soil of north central Iowa.

Now that’s a pretty neat story to share.