Dennis and Marion attended high school together in King City, Missouri. They kept in touch during their busy adult lives, so Dennis knew about Marion’s hobby of building detailed models of ships, and Marion was aware of the work Dennis did with the wood lathe. Marion called a few year back to ask Dennis if he could turn the barrel for a model of a ship’s cannon. Marion was planning to build the undercarriage.
Dennis had just returned from a visit with Stuart Mortimer in England. Among his many projects, Stuart was often called upon to turn commemorative objects from historic wood. The Royal Navy refits many of the wooden warships in their care, and they commission a variety of products from wood removed in the process. Dennis remembered that Stuart had just received some oak from the HMS Victory, so he called Stuart. Within a few days, a package arrived in Colorado with pieces of oak and a certificate of authenticity from the captain of the HMS Victory.
Dennis and Marion made two of the ship’s cannon from the oak.
It’s a wonderful world when two high school buddies in Colorado and Tennessee can collaborate on a project like this almost 40 years after they played football together.
