MID-ATLANTIC MARITIME: 



SMITHSONIAN 

 FESTIVAL 

 CELEBRATES 

 COASTAL 

 COMMUNITIES 



BY ANN GREEN 



hen Harkers Island native Anthony Brooks 

 began whittling and sanding his first duck decoy, he 

 didn't want to use sophisticated techniques or power 

 tools. 



Instead, Brooks carved every inch of the decoy 

 with a hatchet and other hand tools just like old-time 

 carvers who worked in net houses in Stacy and 

 Atlantic. 



"I went to a lot of decoy shows and realized that 

 the old Core Sound decoy was disappearing," says 

 Brooks while carving a decoy at the Core Sound 

 Waterfowl Museum on Harkers Island. "I didn't want 

 the art to be lost forever. After two years and a lot of 

 busted knuckles, I made my first decoy." 



Since then, all of his decoys have been carved 

 with hand tools — hatchet, sander and rasper. The 

 body shapes and smooth contours combine for 

 striking game birds and swans. 



Brooks, who began making decoys four years 

 ago, holds up a white swan that was made to look 

 like a decoy from 1 00 years ago. 



"It is not made to be pretty," he says. "Every 

 now and then, you see a hatchet mark on one of 

 my decoys." 



However, they are functional, much like 

 the old-time decoys that brought in game birds 

 near hunters' boats, adds Brooks, who will 

 demonstrate the old style of decoy carving at 

 the Smithsonian Folklife Festival Program in 

 Washington, D.C. 



Decoy carvers from other mid- Atlantic 

 regions also will be featured on the National 

 Mall June 23-27 and June 30-July 4 in "Water 



Ways: The Past, Present and Future of Mid- Atlantic Maritime Communities." North 

 Carolina Sea Grant will be partnering with other organizations to sponsor events and exhibits 



Continued 



ABOVE: Anthony Brooks carves decoys with hand tools like old-time Down East carverS-i 



EARLY SUMMER 2004 



