The Hurricane Call.

[HunterGKS]

On September 26th of 2004, Hurricane Jeanne ripped through Central Florida.
In my area, we had wind gusts up to 70 MPH. I had already lost one large
chinaberry tree to an earlier storm, and during this storm, I watched 2 more
topple over. I cut up all the trees and moved the logs & brush to the front of
my house. Several of us met in Columbia the spring of 2005 and I took a piece
of the tree up with me at the request of the call maker, Irving Whitt

Other than the fact that the call was made by a great call maker especially for
me, it will help me remember all the victims of Jeanne and how lucky I was to
not suffer more damage than I did.

The body is made from my chinaberry tree and the lid is from a cherry tree that
the storm knocked over in Royal Palm Beach. I’m not sure what the inlays in the
lid and sides are. I had no idea that the grain on chinaberry wood was so beautiful.

And yes, as to be expected, the call sounds as good as it looks.

Other than the fact that the call was made by a great call maker especially for me,
it will help me remember all the victims of Jeanne and how lucky I was to not suffer
more damage than I did.

The only thing I’m unhappy about is the pictures. They just don’t do the call justice.

Words cannot express the gratitude I feel for this great call. Thank you very much
Irving Whitt.

[Hoobilly]

Beautiful box! And a cherished memory of a time that was painful and yet a memory of rebirth through destruction

[ol bob]

Beautiful call from an outstanding call maker honored to call him a friend.

[decoykrvr]

Great pictures, story, and what a beautiful call from one of the best call makers. What a big Chinaberry tree. What was the diameter? IMO, Chinaberry makes one of the best domestic hardwood strikers and is a great wood for scratch boxes. I too, have had box calls made from trees which we have found while turkey/deer hunting, salvaged, had sawn, and then made into a variety of calls and strikers. Over twenty years ago, my best friend and two of his boys, who with their late father I've had the great pleasure in introducing to hunting and the outdoors, drug a large red oak, which had fallen on a large jumble of rocks, out of the woods and cut into saw logs. I had the logs cut at a friends saw mill and they produced beautiful wormy red oak planks and boards. I had four box calls made from the wormy red oak. Two calls were given to the father and eldest son as Christmas presents and the younger son was given his as his high school graduation present and the story and history of the wood was detailed on the boxes. My best friend died 9 years ago, but my relationship w/ his boys continues to this day and we travel and hunt together all over the country. The wormy red oak lives as box calls, strikers, scratch boxes, pot calls, tube calls, duck calls and even custom furniture. One of the sons, now in his mid 30's, and I were duck hunting in the midwest last fall and started talking about the pure joy and thrill of using those calls, memorable hunts and birds called w/ them, and how amazing it is that an old red oak rescued from the woods has and continues to produce such great memories,

[HunterGKS]

Beautiful box! And a cherished memory of a time that was painful and yet a memory of rebirth through destruction

There was a lot of mental & emotional pain. This was the year the 4 hurricanes tore
through Florida. You'd get semi-recovered from 1 & another would hit.

There was also a lot of physical pain for me. I worn out 2 chains cutting up the trees
& about killed myself moving all the wood by hand in a wheelbarrow. It took me weeks
to recover. That pic shows only a small part of what I had to move.

[HunterGKS]

This is the log from which the call was made.

Before the call.jpg (4.41 KiB) Viewed 3279 times

[HunterGKS]

What a big Chinaberry tree. What was the diameter?

Not sure of the actually diameter but these pics might help.

There were 3 trees growing in the same spot, all about the same size. The ist
pic was between storms. It went down during the last storm.

My Irish was like: "What the hell?!?!"

[decoykrvr]

A business associate of mine who lived in Florida spent the better part of the summer of 2004, flushing her toilet w/ water retrieved from the swimming pool and cooking on a Coleman stove.. As you recall, they would just get services restored when another hurricane would come through disrupting everyting. Looking at your pictures of the base of the large Chinaberry is a revelation. In about 2008, I was at a Southern Craftman's Guild show and saw a beautiful large bowl made from the base of a Chinaberry tree where the roots intersected, and had no idea that the Chinaberry grew so large. Thanks for sharing.