BUCYRUS — Richard Hancock’s love for woodworking began with the hope chest, cherry desk and pool table he made in high school.
Richard, who owns and operates the Cabin at Willow Hollow with his wife, retired Colonel Crawford School teacher Wanda, started creating wooden furniture, shelves and other items on a regular basis when he was mid-way through his career as a financial adviser at United Bank in Bucyrus.
“I began going to shows when I was about 35-years-old with my friend, Bob Schiefer, and later, with Lennie Holdcraft, who now has items at my shop,” Richard said. “I loved working with people as a financial advisor and now that I am retired, that is what I enjoy most about my business now.”
Richard said he creates the wood items at his shop and recently began working with reclaimed barn wood and live, or natural, edge wood.
“I made this from wood that came from a farm near Mansfield that was constructed between 1825 and 1850,” Richard said as he pointed to a table and bench with natural wood edges.
Richard works with more than 50 crafters throughout Crawford County and surrounding areas.
“We are always looking for new items,” Richard said. “We do most of it on consignment but will purchase some items upfront. I recently started buying and selling antique cupboards and travel around to find some awesome pieces.”
Richard began holding open houses every fall 24 years ago.
“We held the open houses in our house until 2012,” said Richard.
Richard and Wanda had a cabin constructed on their property and shortly thereafter, opened the doors of the Cabin at Willow Hollow.
“This will be our fourth year holding the open house in the cabin,” Richard said.
The 24th annual Christmas Gathering Open House will be held from Nov. 9 through Nov. 13.
“We will be offering lunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday through Saturday for a freewill donation which will go to the military families of the 1-14-FA, Alpha out of Marion. We did that last year, also, and it worked out very well,” Richard said. “Bill’s Bakery from Galion and Morning Glory Bakery from Bucyrus will be here to offer items and we will have other baked goods as well.”
The store will be open until Dec. 23 and will open back up for the new year in March.
“For December, our hours will be 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday. For November, we will be open the usual hours and days, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday,” Richard said.
The hours from the open house will be 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 9 through 11, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Nov. 12 and from noon to 4 p.m. on Nov. 13.
The Cabin at Willow Hollow is located at 5183 Stetzer Road, Bucyrus. For more information, call 419562-9117 or visit its website.
