I am a motorcoach…

. . . realizing I’ve been wrong about something. Maybe it was this powerful engine, these shiny chrome-covered wheels, all these comfortable seats, and the sky-colored windshield I view the world through that kept me from realizing it sooner. But recently it dawned on me: my relationship with my passengers is the inversion of how I previously looked at it – they are the ones who take me places. Sure, I do the transporting, but everywhere we go and everything we see all starts with their ideas and interests. Take for example a trip to a museum dedicated to a woodcarver in Dover, Ohio. Such a destination would not have crossed my GPS had it not been for a certain group of passengers. After all, what interest would a machine-of-steel such as me have in a woodcarver’s craft? As it turned out, the visit was not only interesting, but relevant to my adventures. Here is some of what I learned through my passengers . . .

Selfies

(which by definition means I’m in them . . . though you might have to look for me)

Warther Museum and Gardens is the showcase for the work of one of the greatest carver’s the world has ever seen. But as the name suggests, there was more to the man than carving. The museum is located right where Mooney and his wife Freida lived, created, and raised their family. The gardens and beautifully landscaped grounds surrounding the museum are their collaborative masterpiece, maintained today by the Warther family.

MEETING THE NEWS on the roadways of America, first-hand, real time, real world news—going out and discovering the news . . .

NEWS Of A BOY’S DISCOVERY: Was it the penknife that discovered the boy inside, or the boy that discovered the knife and made something of the find? Son of Swiss immigrants, Ernest Warther began working his first full-time job shortly after finishing second grade. His father died when he was three, leaving behind the necessity for Ernest to grow up quickly, helping support the family. He did so by herding cattle from town to outlying pasturelands – a penny a day per head. Observers called him Mooney, from the Swiss: moonay, meaning “bull of the heard.” It was while returning to town one day that Mooney found a penknife in the road. From then on, whittling made the hours waiting for the cows to graze pass quickly.

NEWS OF STEAM: Known history of the steam engine dates back to the Ptolemaic scientists of Alexandria, Egypt. Early designs of an aeolipile (3rd century BC) evolved into Hero’s Engine (1st century AD), a steam turbine that spun when the water filled ball at its center was heated by fire. So that is where Mooney Warther began when he decided to carve the history of the steam engine.

ANCESTRAL NEWS: Sixty-four engineering and artistic marvels ultimately made up Mooney’s carved history of the steam engine. It included the John Bull locomotive, the world’s oldest self-propelled vehicle, created in 1831 by inventor Robert Stevens. With the John Bull locomotive begins the ancestral line of piston-driven wheeled vehicles! It was also America’s first self-propelled passenger transport. I should add to that: long-distance transport. All of which changed the world. Hello-o- o-o-o! Are you tracking with me on this one? We’re talking about my great-great- great . . . grandpa here!

PINNACLE NEWS: For Mooney Warther, the steam engine reached its zenith in the mighty locomotives of the 20th century; and the story of steam as told through his carvings reached its pinnacle in “The Great Northern.” With operating moving parts, completion of The Great Northern required 7,752 hand-carved ebony, ivory, and pearl pieces. (Did I mention that Mooney Warther did not use modern tools, such as a lathe?) He even hand-carved the inlaid lettering on the locomotive’s stand. Over the years, engineers have studied Warther’s carving achievements, only to be left baffled that their creator possessed only a second grade education and none of the “necessary” mathematical training.

(Unlike selfies, these are not about me, but about places you’ll want to visit.)

A visit to the Warther Museum, gardens, and home reveals a story of love as much as genius. Mooney met Swiss-born Freida Richard and they married in 1910, a day shy of his twenty-fifth birthday. Over sixty-two years together they went on daily rowboat excursions up the Tuscarawas River, hiked, collected arrowheads, encouraged one another’s creative endeavors (Freida was a life-long button collector), gardened, endured the economic challenges of the Great Depression, built a homestead, and raised their children. Protective of his creative freedom and the life he and Freida and their family enjoyed, Mooney Warther rejected offers from The New York Central Railroad and Henry Ford to buy his carving collection – offers that would have made him the equivalent of today’s millionaire. The Warther gardens, home, workshop (including Freida’s button collection), and museum are truly must-see for anyone passing through North Central Ohio.

Quote Of The Day samples

“My roof doesn’t leak, I’m not hungry, and my wife has all her buttons.” ― Mooney Warther (response to Henry Ford’s offer to purchase the steam engine collection)

“Don’t worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.” ―Abraham Lincoln

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