Satnan: Father-son team a couple of cut-ups — in a good way

Through the rain, through the muffled din of music from the midway, through an onslaught of public address announcements, they heard it — the siren call. And they responded.

As raindrops continued their steady drumbeat on pavement and tents Saturday afternoon, the whir of precision chain saws beckoned fairgoers to a small viewing area near a collection of farm machinery. As the artists displayed their skill, using steel to shave away wood to reveal statuary, onlookers tried to discern just what the carvers were creating.

Jody Horner, of Curryville, and her 9-year-old daughter, Katy, batted about ideas, but it took some time for them to even venture a guess.

“I don’t know what they’re making yet,” Jody said, but Katy guessed early on that one of the carvings was going to be a turkey. Her first guess on the other piece, that it would be a snail, was not as accurate.

“Chain saw” and “artist” are not words that seem to go together, but when talking about the Robinson family, of Montgomery City, the pairing is more than appropriate. Stacey Robinson and his son, Clint, display their talents daily at the Missouri State Fair, and their performances are not to be missed.

Among the hardy group that stood in the rain for 50 minutes to watch the Robinsons work was Chris Bargfredy, of Alma, and his son, Dalton, 12. Stacey Robinson’s turkey carving was evident early in the game, but Dalton likely was the first in the crowd to peg that Clint Robinson was crafting cowboy boots from his log.

Chris Bargfredy said, “That’s a big log to cut for such a little pair of boots,” not realizing that Clint would eventually create four boots from that single hunk of wood.

Tim Jarvis of Knob Noster watched with amazement. “The detail work is just incredible,” he said, later noting, “You hardly see anyone taking the time to learn a skill like this anymore.”

Stacey Robinson has been carving with a chain saw for 24 years. When asked how long he trained in preparation for his calling, he said, “I’m still working on it.”

The great Michaelangelo famously said, “I saw the angel trapped in stone and I set him free.” Is that how Robinson operates? Not really.

“I usually know what I am going to do, then go pick out a piece of wood to work with,” he said. However, “sometimes you look at a piece of wood and see what it should become.”

Robinson most enjoys creating wildlife pieces, as evidenced by the bears, eagles and other animal carvings he and his son have on display at the fairgrounds. In talking about the turkey he created Saturday afternoon, Robinson displayed a remarkable amount of humility about his talent.

“This was a simple one,” he said — to which I blurted a stunned, “Simple?” One look at the detail of his and his son’s work, and I would bet your response to that statement would be the same. The craftsmanship is equal to anyone who works with standard wood carving tools, but the Robinsons maintain a steady hand while operating with horsepower.

The family will be carving every day at the fair, and Aug. 22  there will be an auction of pieces they created during the event; all proceeds go to help pay for fair operations. That’s fine by Robinson, who said, “This is a lot better than working.”

When I related watching with some surprise how the crowd gathered at the sound of the saws, Robinson smiled and nodded.

“That’s the way it works,” he said. “We’ve worked festivals and county fairs, sometimes with no scheduled show time. People hear the chain saw and they come over.”

When you hear the whir, answer the call. It is oh, so worth the trip.