Mascots, logos carved into pine
By Greg Seubert
Traffic has suddenly increased on the dead-end road in front of Robin and Joan Purdy’s Chain O’ Lakes home.
What once was a pine tree missing its top in front of their residence on Carmany Lane is now a 17-foot-high, one-of-a-kind work of art that features the mascots and logos of seven colleges that family members attended over the years.
Ben Buschke of Manawa put the finishing touches on the totem pole Nov. 5 after using his chainsaw and spray paint to create the carving, which features the University of Wisconsin’s Bucky Badger and six other mascots and logos.
The top of the tree fell on the Purdy’s garage in July 2019 during a windstorm that caused considerably damage throughout Waupaca County.
“It was a huge pine,” Joan said. “The top of it fell off and went into our garage. We were in Madison for our daughter’s wedding and had to wait quite awhile to get the tree service here to cut it down.”
Instead of cutting the tree down, however, the Purdys went in a different direction.
“It stood there for over a year, just chopped off,” Joan said. “The neighbors probably wondered, ‘Wow, when are they going to cut that thing down?’”
“I decided it was time for it to go because about five years ago, another big branch had fallen down in another direction and taken out a bunch of trees,” Robin said. “It needed to come down. We had (the tree removers) leave the stump up high so we could have a sculpture made with it. You walk around the Chain o’ Lakes and you see these sculptures in different yards. That was kind of the inspiration for it, I think.”
“It was his idea to put the colleges on there and thought it might be fun,” Joan said. “I said, ‘Where did that idea come from?’”
“We didn’t really have any specific plans,” said Robin, an emergency room physician at ThedaCare Medical Center-Waupaca.
Dead tree becomes totem pole
“We just thought it would be great tree to have a totem pole,” he said. “Instead of having an eagle or bear or some of the usual northwoods-type scenery, we’d try something a little different.”
Mid-State Tree Service & Arborist of New London eventually removed the tree and gave the Purdys Buschke’s contact information.
“The owner gave us Ben’s name,” Joan said. “He’s the first one we called and that’s who we went with.”
“I talked to Ben and gave him what we wanted on it,” Robin said. “He made a drawing and said, ‘What do you think?’ I said, ‘That looks good to me.’ The way it turned out in real life was even better. He’s quite a creative guy.”
“We are so impressed with his work,” Joan said. “He said this was something totally different for him. We’ve been sending pictures to our kids and friends and they just can’t get over it.
“I can’t see what’s being done from the house, so when I would walk the dog or when Ben would leave, I’d walk out to look,” she added. “I just couldn’t believe he had the talent to do this. We’re thrilled.”
The top of the pole has a bulldog, the mascot of Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, Robin and Joan’s alma mater.
“That bulldog looks great,” Joan said while Buschke applied the first coat of paint. “It’s the perfect topper.”
The pole also includes mascots or logos for the University of Colorado (son Robin Jr.); University of Iowa (daughter Elizabeth); Northwestern University (daughter Hilary); University of Wisconsin (daughter Laura); Purdue University (Elizabeth’s boyfriend. Luke Faulkner); and Miami of Ohio (Hilary’s husband, Michael Orlowski, and Laura’s husband, Andrew McCready).
“Everyone graduated and went on to higher education,” Joan said. “We’re very proud of them.”
Word of mouth led to people driving by the house to check out Buschke’s latest creation.
“Quite a few people have driven by and expressed their excitement about it,” Robin said. “We were very fortunate that the children were able to go to the schools they wanted to for college. My wife and I have four children and they went to four different schools, so we have a lot of different colleges that we can root for.
“We enjoy rooting for all the different institutions in their sporting events,” he said. “It’s a nice conversation piece for the family.”