Phillips's love of carving goes back to 1950s when he was a Scout

By Matt Bewley | The Daily Journal

Published Thursday, March 29, 2007

There are many ways to make a difference in your community, even if your specialty is wood carving. Fergus Falls’ Harry Phillips has been sculpting in wood since the late 1950s, when he was a 10-year-old Boy Scout.

“The first thing I ever did was a cowboy boot for a tie loop,” the chief of maintenance for Minnesota State Community and Technical College said. “After that, I carved a little bit, off and on.”

He carved fish and duck decoys, taking pride more in the folk art aspect of his work than in perfecting authentic-looking animals that could fool the eye. Nevertheless, his skills increased, and much of his work did just that. Some he gave to friends or family, some he donated to fundraiser auctions and others began to accumulate at home and in his office on campus.

In 2000, MSCTC was holding an art exhibit, and in it were several carved pieces by other woodworkers. He decided he wanted to enter some of his own work in the show next year, so he set about carving over 150 fish and bird decoys, which eventually received with much acclaim.

That year, he entered some of his best pieces into competition at “The Gathering,” a national wooden-carved fish and bird decoy contest, in Perham.

“I took home five first places and won ribbons with 11 entries,” he said.

Since that time, he has taken several Best of Show ribbons and began to gain national notoriety for his work. People began offering hefty sums of money for his carvings.

Last November, he started a project he’s been thinking about since he was a kid, living near the fairgrounds in Fergus Falls.

“I used to help the carnival when they came to town,” he said. “I remember unloading the carousel horses from their trucks, and that I’d like to be able to make one, someday.”

As always, he researched his subject, primarily on the internet.

“Each horse is made with a theme,” he said, “and the theme is whatever the person making it wants it to be.”

His horse would be named “Daisy,” and so the white petaled flower became his theme. He used construction-grade lumber, fashioning each decorative flower from wood and applying it to the sides. He put 247 hours into the project.

Today it stands in main lobby on campus. Here and there, along the school corridors, stand other of his pieces.

He does not make a business of selling them, however. Instead, he donates pieces to charitable organizations to be raffled off in fundraisers.

“ It’s a God-given talent,” he said, “so I gotta share it.”

Over the past 30 years, he’s given away over 200 of his carvings to charitable organizations.

“I’ve given them to nursing homes. I carved a small rocking horse for them. And I always do something for Relay for Life. They’re one of the most worthwhile organizations. I also help out the local booster clubs. I’ve given to the Stalker Lake Sportsmen’s Club and the Fish and Wildlife, too.”

He will be displaying his work as educational pieces in Saturday’s March Madness at the Prairie Wetlands Learning Center.

“They asked me to exhibit about 25 of my bird decoys. I’ll have ducks, grouse, pheasant, turkeys, woodcocks, bobwhites. Everything from a huge trumpeter swan to a little western grebe.”