A gift from a friend

I first met Gary Goudy in 1972, when he was living near me and starting to develop considerable skill as a stock maker. Since that time we have been fast friends and hunted together in the Western US and Canada. He has stocked a number of guns for me, and I have learned a great deal from him. There are very few friends that I value as highly as Gary.

Gary has extraordinary skill with his hands. He says, "My brains are in my hands." I dunno, but he can make a saddle, carve, checker and finish  an exquisite gunstock, and does wrought iron work 'on the side'. He built an beautifully done VW 'dune buggy' with a dashboard of hand carved English walnut. 

I recently visited Gary at his home in Dayton, Washington and we had a day hunting pheasants together.  At that time he showed me some leather braiding work that he was doing for fun, and it was extraordinary and imaginative. He said that he would like to braid something for me, and I said I'd like a whistle lanyard. He sent an e-mail today with photos of the lanyard he made for me - a real beauty. Thank you, Gary!