Blast from the Past!

[Blinky Bill]

G'day All,
Old family friends once converted a good portion of their property to become boarding, breeding and trainig kennels for greyhounds. The husband approached me and asked if I would carve a dog for him, it was the first dog from the kennels to make a name for himself on the track by winning the Australian Cup over 675 yards in 36.7 at age 20 months. I agreed and later presented him with a fair replica of "Take a Bow" the dog in question. Now, the husband is gone and his widow in her mid 90s' still lives on the property but the kennels no longer exist, a couple of years ago the woman that helps with cleaning etc. knocked the carving from a shelf and last week it was returned to me with all 4 legs broken, one in 3 places. I've spent time since restoring him and will return him soon. A little research shows that I carved him somewhere around 1963???
Regards to all
John

[Dan Wegiel]

Hi John,
Thanks for the story and love the greyhound, fantastic job! You've been carving a long time my friend, thats some 47 years ago, had to bring back some great memories. Thanks for sharing,
Dan

[SeaLeveler]

Beautiful carving and a great save.
Tony

[Blinky Bill]

Thanks Dan,
it was certainly a trip down memory lane having known and spent vacations with this family since age 7 or 8.

Thanks Tony, glad you liked my efforts

John

[mpounders]

Nice carving! My wife and I "adopted" a greyhound that retired from the racetrack in Memphis and it was the best of all the dogs we have owned. You really captured the things that set them apart. Friends and memories make it even more special.

[uvawyo]

You have been a very good carver for a long time now, John
It is mighy pretty
Thanks for sharing

[Blinky Bill]

Thanks Mike and Herb,
I enjoyed and appreciated reading your kind words.
John

[RUssL.]

Nice, very nice. The carving and the story.
Russ

[Larry Bev]

Great carving and story thanks for posting.
Larry

[Ron T]

Hi John,

Thanks for the story. If these pictures were taken after the repair, all I can say is you did an excellent job. The carving looks to be in it's original state and it shows what a good carver you already were back then.