By B.C. Manion
It all began with a rocking chair.
Millie Cornell wanted to buy a rocking chair for her granddaughter to carry on a tradition she’d begun with her oldest grandson.
She found one at a store that she thought would be perfect, but as she carried it to the counter to pay for it, it began to fall apart.
She rejected that chair and went home and told her husband Duke (whose given name is George) that she wouldn’t be able to get a chair for Sarah.
Duke told Millie not to worry. He said he’d see if he could make their granddaughter a rocking chair.
So began Grandpa’s Wee Rockers Woodcraftsman, a business that continues to this day at 38133 Fifth Ave. in Zephyrhills.
Duke spends the better part of most days working in the open-air shop out behind their house, a highly visible location near Zephyrhills.
A sign in front of the shop welcomes passersby: “Come See What I Saw,” it proclaims.
Drop by and you’ll likely hear the whirring sound of a drill, as Duke uses 2.5-inch deck screws to bind together parts of a bench. The quick and sure movements of his hands and sawdust on the floor are evidence of a man at work.
Visitors can check out child-sized rocking chairs, wishing wells, Adirondack chairs, a bench swing, picnic tables and single, double and triple gliders on display on the lawn and driveway at the couple’s house.
At one point, Duke set up at a flea market, but there was too much down time in that venture for his tastes, he said.
At another point, he carted chairs to the Northern states because he’d taken one up at someone’s request and found there was a demand for them there.
Now, he’s content to stay at home working in his shop.
The idea of retiring is not even a remote possibility for this 83-year-old.
“I can’t sit around,” said Duke, who speaks quietly and appears to be a man of few words. “You’ve got to do something.”
He cuts pieces of spruce and pressure-treated pine into pieces he needs to make his furniture.
“About 40 pieces go into those rockers,” he said. The sliders have about 40 pieces, too.
The rockers are strong enough to support the weight of a child up to 28 pounds, he said.
Many patrons are repeat customers.
“They keep coming back for grandchildren and great-grandchildren,” he said.
The rocking chairs hold up well, he said. “They hand them down from generation to generation.”
Busy times of the year are typically around the Christmas holidays and just before Mother’s Day, Millie said.
The length of his work day varies, Duke said. “It depends on what I have to build.”
How much he gets done each day varies, too. “It depends on how fast you work and how hard.”
In the summer, he works mostly in the morning because of the afternoon’s stifling heat.
The tools of his trade include a band saw, a sander, a drill, deck screws and wood.
Over the years, the business isn’t the only thing that has grown and prospered.
The couple, who married on April 24, 1947, has five children, 16 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.
For more information about items, prices and hours call (813) 788-2984.
