Visit to the Warther Museum

and Larry Pulka's Workshop

On Sunday, June 8, 2003, East Central Ohio Mensa will host a special day-long event. ECOM member and master carver Larry Pulka will travel with us to lead a special tour of the Warther Museum in New Philadelphia, showcasing the carving of Mooney Warther. Following this tour, we will travel North to Canton, where Larry will welcome us to his own workshop to show us some of his work.

Mooney Warther was an extraordinarily talented carver. Known for his complex train models and his 5-cut pliers, he is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. His models are made from ivory and exotic woods and some contain as many as 7,000 separate pieces.

Larry Pulka brings a unique perspective to this tour. He has been an active model ship carver for over 25 years. His name has appeared frequently in the Braegen's Kudos column, describing some of the many awards he has won from shows throughout the U.S. Some of his models, which use exotic woods for coloring instead of paint, may contain over 150,000 pieces. His work has been featured in specialist magazines, including World of Wood, as well as at the Cleveland Boat Show and Channel 8 news. He is a 5-time first-prize winner at the Mooney Warther carving show, knew Mr. Warther, and first visited the museum 33 years ago.

The tour will begin at noon and is expected to last through the afternoon. The only cost will be admission to the Warther Museum (approximately $8). Due to space limitations, attendance will be limited to 25. Advance reservations are required.