Wooden It Be Nice blends high-tech approach with traditional woodworking
Roger and Darla Seger have been involved in woodworking since their children were young, touring around to community bazaars selling crafts – napkin holders and the like – while carting along their three girls.
The Seger family discovered they liked the weekend trips in the Midwest. When the three girls got to high school, the family got too busy to continue the hobby, however.
“We enjoyed it a lot over the years,” Darla said. “We went all round the four-state area to Christmas bazaars. The kids helped out and they learned a lot about how business works and how to deal with adults.”
Roger and Darla, who live in Rapid City, remained energetic in the meantime and when things settled down again they again ventured out as Wooden It Be Nice and an ever-widening array of projects that went well beyond napkin-holders.
“We like keeping busy in retirement,” Darla said. “We’re both very creative so it’s a good outlet for us. We stay in business this way – and there’s only so much of this stuff we can give away anyway.”
Roger was an avid woodworker in high school. He went off to the Navy and returned to a career as a baker. He met Darla and together they’ve kept active. As that applies to their woodworking, it includes ornate clocks, boxes, cribbage boards, pheasants, ducks, eagles and light houses. The Segers weave standard hardwoods in with more exotic types and spend a lot of time in the region hunting down the supplies that make their wooden wares so distinctive.
While their products still demand both elbow grease and artistry, the purchase of a CNC router has kept them up to speed from a technological standpoint. They draw designs on the computer, put it on a flash drive and a machine in the garage carves it out. Roger still sands and varnishes the completed works.
“It’s a lot of fun, though we still have our trials,” Darla said, laughing. “Roger didn’t work with computers before and so he really had to extend himself. And we’re still learning about the machine. We’re learning how to do 3-D things. We can also learn a lot more with the laser part of it. There is definitely room for growth.”
Darla made a visit to Sioux Falls last year and gave the 605 Made Market a look. She was impressed enough to return, this time with the Segers’ own products. They will be sold at the market Dec. 8 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the underground parking level of Cherapa Place.
“I really liked concept, it’s so well organized with the way you can buy everything at one time,” Darla said. “Plus, it’s really nice stuff. They hand-pick the vendors and they’re selling nice quality things. I wanted to be involved in that.”
