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Chainsaw Artist

Teen Continues To Give Out Wreaths

Jimmy Keller, 16, of South Dayton has been hard at work creating wreaths for this year’s sale at Add Lumber True Value in Irving. Submitted photo

GOWANDA — Sixteen-year-old Jimmy Keller continues giving another holiday season, despite realizing a new artistic endeavor over the past year and a half. The Gowanda Central School junior has made a name for himself locally with his handmade wreaths, and is now a chainsaw artist with his own business, Keller’s Custom Creations. For the eighth year now, Keller is selling his wreaths to benefit local charities, which is a passion that has also carried over to his new business.

This Saturday and Sunday, as well as next weekend, Dec. 1 and 2, Keller will be selling wreaths and hosting a basket raffle at Add Lumber True Value located at Routes 5 and 20 in Irving beginning at 9 a.m. The wreaths will sell for $15 to $25, and Keller donates 100 percent of the profits to area charities. This year, he plans to give to several organizations in need including five local food pantries, Healing with Horses, Love, Inc., Pets for Vets, Cozy Quilts and local P.B.A.s for their annual gift program and more.

Keller has spent the past several nights working late at night assembling wreaths for the sale, and is planning to have 50 to 60 wreaths ready. “It’s a lot of work,” his father, James Keller, explained. “He makes two to three wreaths an hour. First he has to go out and cut the boughs, get them in place, form and cut them before running them through the wreath machine. Then he puts the bows and pinecones in place. He wants to keep it affordable for people, too.”

“Jimmy has conveyed to me that for some reason, he was given the ability to create and build,” said his mother, Jennifer Keller. “Therefore, he enjoys using that gift to give back to those in need.”

Not only does Keller give back every holiday season, but he does so year ’round now through his newly formed business. In just a year and a half, Keller has already carved bears, eagles, dragonflies, lighthouses, alligators, dragons, benches, shelves and much more. Keller is self-taught, having no prior experience with a chainsaw. “I just picked it up and taught myself,” he said. “I saw someone doing it at an event and thought, ‘Why can’t I do it?'”

Over the past year and a half, Keller has been honing a new skill, chainsaw carving, which he also uses to give back to local organizations. Submitted photo

Throughout the year, Keller has donated his chainsaw carvings to such groups as a local FFA chapter, a pet rescue and even donated a hand-carved memorial bench for a student. He also donated three large carvings to the Erie County Conservancy to be raffled off during a winter festival at Chestnut Ridge Park.

Keller is grateful to everyone who has supported his wreath sales over the past several years and those who plan on participating this year.

For more information about Keller’s chainsaw carvings and charitable giving, visit www.kellerscustomcreations.com.

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