The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Military family receives special gift
Cement piece features Marine Corps emblem
When Wendy Butler saw the item in the store, she knew she had to take it to the register as quickly as she could since it was the only one available.
“I knew I may not have the chance again to find something that fit so well with what suddenly came to me, for what I knew would make a lasting impression for my son-in-law, Joe,” she said.
The funny thing was Butler wasn’t looking for anything specific for Joe at all. But being an
active serviceman, stationed in Okinawa, she realized he’d appreciate it more than anyone.
The coveted item was a cement piece with the United States Marine Corps emblem engraved in it. The 40-pound “rock,” as Butler describes it, would be perfect for her to adorn in her ceramics class at the Willowick Senior Center.
Butler, who’s been a member of the center since April, joined her fellow members on a trip to Burbank, where the store, Lots of Knots Ceramics, is located in the Ohio Station Outlets shopping center.
With scarlet and gold acrylics waiting back at the center, Butler knew she’d paint the rock and save it as a surprise gift for “Sergeant Joe Blum,” a member of a special reaction team, a unit equivalent to SWAT, serving as specialized military law enforcement.
“It will be even more special when he comes home with his wife, Halle, who’s lucky enough to be working as a school teacher in Okinawa, too,” said Butler, who lives in Eastlake with her husband, Joes’ father, Steve.
“Joe’s grandfather was a Marine and that’s why Joe wanted to sign up,” she said. “He would be proud of Joe, I know it, and so would Joe’s mother.”
Butler admitted it took several weeks to transform the sterile-colored rock into the eye-catching Semper Fi image, the eagle atop the Earth with an anchor through it.
Describing the process as painstaking, Butler refused to deviate in any way.
“I kept returning to the logo on Google, and it had to be precise,” she said. “From the texture to the exact coloring, it had to be perfect. I used dry brush techniques and several different color combinations, and then applied sealant, for a meticulous outcome. As much as they do for us, the least I could do was stay true to them.”
More than just painting, the efforts are also therapeutic and creatively inspirational, she added.
Butler’s even had an offer from an interested party to buy the rock, but she’s respectfully declined. With the 243rd anniversary falling on Nov. 10, she’s got other plans for her work.
“This project, one of many we engage in at the center, I really enjoyed,” she said. Creating a keepsake for loved ones, which a lot of our members do here in this class, means the world to me.
“Steve and I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces when they come home. That’s what we’ve decided to do, surprise them. They’re 14 hours ahead of us so we’re waiting, but when they come home, seeing it in person will have the most impact, we think.”