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Two brothers living in Euclid recently enlisted the aid of a carving expert to sculpt a 10-foot eagle in a tree in their back yard.
Sly and Steve Kodrin have lived together at 1744 E. 230th St. for the past five years. At the time Steve began to develop severe health issues after the death of his wife and was having a difficult time maintaining the gardens so Sly moved in.
He took on the responsibility of caretaker for his brother as well as maintaining the gardens surrounding the property. And that included a massive stump from a chopped down Penn oak in their back yard.
“Me and my brother Steve had the stump for years trying to figure out what we were going to do with it, and I said why don’t we do a tree carving,” Sly said. “I went out looking for someone to carve the design and we found Carvings by Chris in Perry, Ohio.
“Originally, we had planned to do a bear but then he showed me the design for an eagle and right away we were taken by the design.”
Carvings by Chris is an organization owned by Chris Hammack located at 3331 North Ridge Road in Perry. He professionally carves statues with the use of a chainsaw. Hammack’s design for the tree will take the likeness of an eagle with a Betsy Ross flag wrapped around the tree’s trunk. The carving is set to be finished Oct. 23.
“Chris and I became friends in a very short time,” Sly said. “He is such a talented carver, and we are so happy we found him to carve this for us.”
Sly said that carving is really in honor of their parents and what they did for his brother and him while alive.
“It really is a testament to my parents, they escaped from Yugoslavia and moved to Austria before immigrating to this country in 1956,” Sly said. “I remember asking my dad ‘Why come to the United States’ and he said, ‘I had a dream to come here with you all.’ I think that is what that eagle represents, it is a symbol of the freedom that this country represented for my parents. “
Sly said that their house officially became a part of the Euclid Garden Club this year and in subsequent years they hope that the carving will become a significant delight to onlookers at their yearly garden tours during summer months.
Sly said that him and his brother have ideas to host a contest for the honor of naming the eagle in the future as a means of using the carving to bring the community together.
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