ODELL, Neb. (KMTV) — Earl Spitsnogle gives credit to God for the walnut trees on his Odell farm. He believes it's just his job to show the wood's character in its best light.
- Spitsnogle makes furniture, frames, trim and more from the slabs he began harvesting six years ago.
- His pieces are in homes and businesses throughout the Midwest, South and Mountain West.
- Spitsnogle is a high school basketball legend in Nebraska and farmed for 50 years before focusing on woodworking. He says patience, discipline and competitiveness transferred from one to the next.
Continue reading for the broadcast transcript of this story.
Before walnut, the legend of Earl 'The Pearl' Spitsnogle began on the hardwood.
"Shooting a basketball a lot, I got to be pretty good at it. Enough to where... we usually beat most teams," he smiled.
'Spits' was a "paint-dominating Jim Dandy," as one writer put it: 56 points in a game (and that was before the three-point shot existed).
"Everybody was really playing well and I guess, we always had a good team, you know? That's kind of the deal," he said humbly.
An All-State player, Spitsnogle earned Division I offers in basketball and football - including Nebraska. But, in the 70s, the family's farm required more from him.
He found the patience, discipline and competitiveness cultivated in sports transferred to the farm.
"The arc in our country, it's corn and beans and prices are low. Like this year, everybody's got terrific crop, but still, you've got to be competitive to get the best yield you can and try to market it right and that's gonna pull you through," he explained.
The 50 years Spitsnogle farmed, he never worked with wood, but it didn't matter - the foundation was set.
"We had a teacher, Mr. McCartney, Jim McCartney, who was a great teacher," Spitsnogle recalled. McCartney taught him how to build furniture.
"He learned me good enough to do it right. And if you do it right, good things are gonna happen."
A furniture-making business was never the plan. Initially, Spitsnogle would just sell walnut slabs from downed and cut trees. Then, came requests for custom pieces.
He's made stairs, tables, shelves, baseboards and frames, and is working on a 13-foot bar right now.
"Waterfalls on each end. And I'll match those grains perfectly so when they come over, they're exactly matched as they come over," he demonstrated.
The way walnut looks will vary based on where it's grown.
"In eastern Nebraska, we're on the western end of the walnut belt. And it goes all the way to New York. And probably the biggest area - Missouri and Indiana," Spitsnogle started.
He continued to explain that Nebraska's trees don't get as much rain; however, they do get more blizzards and high winds - all of which adds character.
"Toby! Hi!," he exclaimed as a visitor dropped by.
That waterfall bar? It belongs to Toby.
Some of Spitsnogle's friends have become clients, and it's worked the other way around.
The slabs in his shop represent only half of his walnut inventory. He views each piece as a collaborator.
"The good thing about it is you get to work with something real beautiful," he said. "God's creation - making this, and you're just opening it up and showing the beauty."
Perspective and pieces - somehow both trending and timeless.
Spitsnogle's current projects will take him through the rest of this year.