Silver Dollar City
During a fall visit to Silver Dollar City in 2011, I began a conversation with the blacksmith, Wayne, who stated that Silver Dollar City was looking for a talented Coppersmith. Before I knew it, we were in the back office talking to management and making magic happen. In April 2012, I opened 802 Copper Shoppe as a retail shop at Silver Dollar City which had been a childhood dream since my first visit in my earlier years . While at Silver Dollar City, I also met Marci Trimlett, who sold many of my copper pieces as well as her jewelry creations. Marci was a definitive positive force in my life and a huge factor with me sticking with the trade that I loved. She reinforced my moto: Never Give Up.One of the connections that I met through my Silver Dollar City adventure opened up the opportunity to work on a historical restoration for the First Methodist Church of Clever, Mo. The church replaced the old bishop arch windows with new stained glass and insulated glass over that. I covered all of the wood frame on the windows and made all removable stops so they can be repaired without dismantling the whole window. The job was finished in two phases of three days each. The first phase, in spring, I worked around thunderstorms and flash floods. On the second phase, I swept snow off the scaffolding and steady snowfall all three mornings.
Jokingly, I like to say that I got my Master Status in Clever, Mo. but being at Silver Dollar City put a fire in my heart and put a passion for the craft in my soul that gave me a new vision and direction for 802 Copper Shoppe.
