ERIE, Pa. - To one person, it's just a piece of wood. To another, it's a piece of history.
History in the Making is a business owned by Linda and Bert Straub of Erie, Pa., that turns pieces of old houses, barns, picnic tables and other memories into treasured keepsakes like jewelry, picture frames and decor. Even a small chunk of wood from a grandfather's barn or piece of the bench from a picnic table can take people back to another time and place.
Mrs. Straub, who now does the majority of the wood crafting, started the business when she was given the chance to use wood from an old barn she often passed with her husband. To thank the farmer, she made him a picture frame from the wood with a photograph of the barn inside.
"I said the history is the making of it," Mrs. Straub said. "You're looking at the barn and it's framed in the wood after it fell. My husband and I were like 'there's the name of our business: History in the Making.'"
Since that time, Mrs. Straub has made a variety of different products with wood from historic barns and other buildings. Decorative fences, birdhouses, boxes and benches were popular items when she first started. Although these products are still avaliable, she said that jewelry is the most popular item now.
"It's small enough they have a piece of it and they can actually have it on them," she said. "Something about it being around your neck makes you feel connected."
In addition to wood from Pennsylvania barns, customers can have products made out of exotic wood like balata wood from the island of Dominica, Purple Heart wood from Central and South America, and Zebra wood from Africa. And although this wood looks amazing and is high quality, some people want a piece of their own history in a picture frame or necklace.
When people bring their own wood in for a project, each story is unique. For example, Mrs. Straub made a picture frame out of the wood from a picnic table where a man proposed to his girlfriend. Inside the frame is a picture of that very picnic table.
The importance and significance of gifts like these is one of the reasons Mrs. Straub continues to do what she does.
"You can go anywhere and get wood jewelry," she said. "It's made in China, and it's mass produced. Those kind of people are not the market I am trying to go to.
"The people that I want understand the small business and the handmade significance of it. They understand something with meaning is worth a lot more than something that is made in China and mass produced."
History in the Making has been featured in both local media outlets as well as on a national level. During the 2008 Presidental Campaign, she attended a rally in Erie and handed Republican vice presidental nominee Sarah Palin a box with a homemade necklace and letter.
"Please let this (necklace) be a reminder for you to stay as real as you are to us right now," the letter said. "Politics has a way of tainting people." During a rally the next day in York, Pa., Gov. Palin wore the necklace Mrs. Straub had given her.
Mrs. Straub has also crafted wood jewelry for Ty Pennington, Paul DiMeo and Paige Hemmis of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," and Christian singer Michael W. Smith.
Her line of wood jewelry was recently added to the Frameworks gallery in Lakewood. Called "Natura Jewelry," it features necklaces, bracelets and more from the many kinds of exotic wood that Mrs. Straub gathers.
Rooted deep in the Christian faith, Mrs. Straub's testimony can be found on History in the Making's Web site. She believes that she has a "God-given ability to handcraft meaningful creations and bless people with them."
"Because it's a gift, I like to share it," she said. "I"m not a jeweler, I'm not a photographer and I'm not a woodsman. But I like the connection - the history that's in the piece."
To see some of the Straubs' creations, media stories, videos and other information about History in the Making, check out the virtual home of the business at www.HistoryInTheMaking.biz or call 814-835-0223.
