Tommy & Katie Ordoyne

Tommy:

I make a lot of cutting boards in my woodworking business, Boards to Bowls, and a popular design is the mixed exotic wood boards. I love to create unique arrangements of different woods from around the world. At a recent artisan market, a customer saw my rectangular boards and asked whether I could make a round mixed-wood board for a lazy Susan. I had that project in mind when I heard about the opportunity to create a repurposed chair for Re-Seated.

For the seat, I started with a strip of Ivorywood and made a symmetric design using shorter pieces as I worked out from the center. The woods used for this seat are (starting from the outer strip): Brazilwood, Macacauba, Cherry, Bloodwood, Ivorywood, Zebrawood, Purpleheart, Ash, Peruvian Walnut, with Ivorywood in the center.

When we picked up our chair, it was dirty, it wobbled, one of the rubber feet was missing, and the others didn’t match. I cleaned the metal frame and replaced the feet. With the new wooden seat, the chair is completely transformed!

Katie:

The Re-Seated event is to honor cancer survivors. We dedicate this chair to my former colleague and dear friend, Lynn Goodson. Lynn and I taught math together for almost two decades at Byrnes High School. We shared much more than our math and teaching expertise. Lynn’s parenting stories are legend!

Last summer Lynn came home early from a family trip after experiencing some heart problems. She discovered that her AFib problems were caused by a mass in her chest, which was diagnosed as lymphoma. I followed her story as she underwent six rounds of chemotherapy and infusion treatments. Lynn didn’t pull any punches in her description of how grueling these treatments were. I saw the photos when she lost her hair, and when her children got “chemo buzz cuts” in solidarity. But she also shared so much gratefulness and positivity. One post included this verse:

“But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds, declares the Lord.” (Jeremiah 30:17) And this message: “God is healing you! You are coming back BETTER AND STRONGER than ever before!” Lynn is the epitome of someone who was changed by cancer but not defeated. Like our Re-Seated chairs, she has emerged more beautiful than ever.