Friends’ woodworking hobby sparks Batavia retail business

Is there such a thing as a “happy accident?”

Doug Marsh of Batavia figures he experienced it more than a year ago when meeting with friends Steve Lusted, John Dillon and Kersten Beer to discuss the potential of advancing their interest in woodworking.

That pitch was fueled with the knowledge that a building on McKee Street in Batavia that Marsh’s family has owned and used for the past 55 years for Marsh Products had some room available.

“We rent out a good portion of space in that building, and when one area opened up, I was in the process of getting it cleaned for a next potential tenant,” said Marsh, who also operates his own business, Timepilot Corporation, in the building.

“But my neighbor Steve (Lusted) and I both like to make stuff, and we came up with the idea of having a store for the things we make,” Marsh said.

When Dillon and Beer were asked to join the meeting, it became clear that both had a lot of turning stock wood (for making bowls and other circular wood products) and flat stock wood ready to use.

They all had a friend in Ron Meyers, who operates a mill in Batavia and could supply product, so the idea expanded to create Batavia Hardwoods and eventually establish three categories for retail sales.

“We decided we could sell wood and the finished products we make, establishing three categories,” Marsh said. “We sell flat stock lumber, finished products, and turning stock for bowl turners.”

The result of this “happy accident,” being the creation of their own business, will be on display when Batavia Hardwoods celebrates its first year with a spring open house from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 31, in its store at 330 McKee St.

“We don’t build things for other people,” Marsh explained. “We are selling wood for other people to make things like furniture, bowls, trays or charcuterie boards, or we are just selling the material people need for their projects.”

As owners of Batavia Hardwoods, the four friends, most of them retired or semi-retired, have created what they believe is the largest supplier of turning stock wood in the Chicago area.

Turning stock wood is generally used on a lathe (picture a horizontal drill press) as users mount the wood to go through the lathe as it spins or turns. The user then chips away at the material with a chisel to create the desired shape.

“We are having so much fun running this business,” Marsh said. “It’s been really fascinating what people will say they are working on when they come through the door and show us pictures.

“A young girl walked in and said she was fixing spinning wheels and wanted turning stock for that,” he added. “She had taught herself how to fix them and now flies around the country doing it — and that’s just amazing.”

A young boy came in and needed wood because he was making lacrosse sticks. Marsh, who figured he’d seen a lot in the woodworking world, admitted he never thought of someone making a side job out of building lacrosse sticks.

Batavia Hardwoods is open from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays, or by appointment by calling (630) 761-5907.

“We are not far from the business, so we don’t want people to hesitate to call us,” Marsh said.

The open house on May 31 will feature demonstrations, weather permitting, by the Batavia Woodcarvers Club and Windy City and Chicago Woodturners Club. Food and beverages will be served during the lunch hour.

For being a year into business, Batavia Hardwoods finds itself in a good place.

“We are expanding and taking up more space in the building,” Marsh said. “And it is kind of strange that a store in Sycamore that sold hardwood, and we used to go to, closed because the owner retired — at about the same time we opened this.”

Cougar on the prowl?

In many parts of the Fox Valley, homeowners can expect to see various wildlife species roaming around in their yards.

But it would certainly catch your attention if you happened to glance outside and see what you were certain was a mountain lion or cougar.

Joe Garbarski had that experience a couple of weeks ago when seeing a large animal in his Campton Township backyard.

“We have a ‘Ring’ camera in our backyard that was focused on rabbits next to a landscape planter,” Garbarski said. “The bunnies left and we accidentally captured a picture of a mountain lion or cougar in our backyard.”

Garbarski felt he knew what type of animal was strolling around his property, saying it may have followed a trail of mature pines by nearby Ferson Creek to his property, but checked with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Forest Service at Medicine Bow National Park to confirm it. They confirmed it was a feline, but he is waiting to hear more.

A mountain lion or cougar would be a rare sight in Illinois, as would a bobcat, but Garbarski says a bobcat generally has a smaller tail and is not as big as the animal lumbering by his planter.

Based on his research through state and national wildlife information, Garbarski notes that, based on the height of this animal, it “appears to be a young male cougar.” Thus, he has tabbed it the “Campton Cougar” for now.

He posted a 14-second video on his Facebook page that shows this cougar “walking along outside of our sunroom.”

After nearly 40 years in his Campton Township home, Garbarski figured he had seen it all. Maybe now he has.

“We've had raccoon, possum, deer, fox, coyote and even a mink in our yard, but this one takes the cake,” Garbarski said.

Quilts with stories to tell

If you like history stories that include dangerous situations — and the creation of secret codes to counter that danger — you may want to listen in on Illinois Humanities scholar Connie Martin’s presentation about pre-Civil War quilts.

Turns out, some of those quilts carried secret codes to help those on the Underground Railroad find their freedom.

Martin will talk about those quilts in a session from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, June 5, at the St. Charles Episcopal Church, 994 N. Fifth Ave.

Martin, a sixth-generation descendant of enslaved Africans in Kentucky, will focus on the Underground Railroad route through Illinois counties as slaves made their way to Canada and other locations. More specifically, she’ll explain family stories about hidden messages in the patterns of quilts used on the Underground Railroad.

For more information or to register for the presentation, contact Ed Manning at ekmanning5@gmail.com.

Recognition keeps rolling

After years of volunteering to do “stuff” in Geneva, Chuck and Heidi Howlett are on a nice recognition roll.

After earning the 2024 Wood Award as Geneva’s top citizens, the Howletts are following that up with being named as this year’s Swedish Days Parade marshals on Sunday, June 22.

I had a magazine article set to the side on my desk to remind me to create an item for this column in the future about how the Howletts cleaned and restored more than 500 gravestones in the city’s Westside Cemetery.

These folks work at so many Geneva events and functions, most notably for Geneva High School and their church, Geneva United Methodist, that even if you don’t know them, you know them.

And that’s the stuff they do in the “public eye.” A lot of their stuff takes place behind the scenes, with no fanfare.

After 30 years of helping organize the Swedish Days parade, the Howletts can now cruise near the front of the parade — and, while waving to the crowd along the route, probably think of a few more things they can do for Geneva.

Parcel empty no longer

After decades of just being an open space, it’s now a construction whirlwind at a parcel on Mosedale Street in St. Charles on the west side of Geneva Road (Route 31).

At least three houses have gone up at that site, with a foundation in place for another in what signs are touting as “City View” development, as the land is high above Geneva Road, giving homeowners a different “view.”

The houses are just south of where the office of Dr. John Nickless and his daughter Josephine, also a doctor, was located atop a hill overseeing that property in the 1960s.

Did you know?

Diners have enjoyed the Gia Mia restaurant at 13 N. Third St. in Geneva for the past decade, since the restaurant took over a spot previously housing a Great Harvest Bread Co. bakery.

Longtime residents may remember that location as something completely different. In the early 1960s, the building was known as Miller’s Sport Shop.

Miller’s sold sporting goods and fishing gear, but also drew customers in with its coffee shop and grill.

The advertising posters on the outside of the building displayed the logos and sang the praises of Coca-Cola and Borden’s milk.

An interesting side note would be the popularity of those brands. Borden Dairy had been around for more than 100 years by then, having started in 1857 by Gail Borden. And Coca-Cola became a brand in the United States around 1886.

dheun@sbcglobal.net