Woodcarving A Lifelong Enjoyment For Local Man

A lifelong hobby of woodcarving can take up a lot of space.  And few people outside Paul Bates' family have seen all his work.  But the residents of The Country Club of Woodland Hills Retirement Community talked him into putting it on display for all of them to see and they invited News On 6 reporter Rick Wells to take a look.

Paul Bates has been carving things out of wood since a neighbor taught him how to use a knife when he was 10-years-old.  He got serious about it 20 years ago when he retired from the Denver Police Department.

Bates carves for his own enjoyment.  He taught his daughter years ago and she brought in some of her work.

"Isn't it amazing?  He just does it.  Nobody shows him how or tells him how, just starts out and says anything anybody else can do I can do," said Evelyn Bates, Paul's daughter.

What about mistakes?

"Either carve something else or cover it up somehow or put it in the fireplace," said Paul bates with a laugh.

Bates says at age the age of 86 he still carves a little each day.  He says it keeps his hands out of the cookie jar.