Jerry Seidel has filled his little craft store on U.S. 141 on the south end of Beecher with his handmade items, mostly using locally sourced wood.

He also has three 30-by-10-feet storage buildings on his property almost packed with his creations, he says.

It’s a collection that includes tables of all types, nightstands, wall mirrors, picture frames, all crafted from oak, birch, pine, white ash, cedar, even cherrywood.

Much of it reflects his long association with the region’s woodlands.

The exterior of Jerry's Craft Shack, which owner Jerry Seidel built himself. (Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo)

Born and raised in the Pembine, Wis., area, the 65-year-old Seidel has done tree trimming and removal for about 25 years, after working at the long-shuttered paper mill in Niagara, Wis.

That gives him access to a consistent supply of quality wood. He did woodworking off and on for himself and a few other people for about six to seven years before deciding it might be a good source of secondary income.

“People said, ‘Jerry, you’ve got to sell this stuff, build yourself a shack,’ so I did,” Seidel said.

He opened Jerry’s Craft Shack in spring 2020 at N17459 U.S. 141, alongside his home at the south end of Beecher. While he does stock some other crafters’ products — such as from a downstate Wisconsin woman who incorporates shells in her items, or her son, who does birchbark paintings — he estimates he made more than 90% of what’s in the shop.

Seidel’s main specialty has been custom signs for homeowners. He figures he’s cranked out several hundreds in the past couple years.

ONE OF THE walls at Jerry’s Craft Shack on U.S. 141 in Beecher, Wis., showing some of the decorated wooden frames Jerry Seidel makes for pictures and mirrors, along with other wall hangings created in his shop. (Betsy Bloom/Daily News photo)

Seidel usually lets people pick out a board they want, applies four coats of polyurethane, carves and paints in the family name, then adds another three to four coats of clear varnish so the sign can withstand the harsh conditions of the northwoods.

His workshop has a wood-burning stove, kept running 24-7, that allows him to store the precious types of wood he receives in an environment that lets them dry in weeks rather than months, Seidel said.

He does a number of his woodworking designs through fractal burning, a technique that etches designs that look like dark roots or leafless trees. It’s a precise process that requires soaking the wood, then running an electric current through it to create the patterns. Which is why it has risks — Seidel pointed out a number of people have been electrocuted from this method. It’s why when doing fractal burning he wears rubber gloves, rubber boots and has rubber pads underfoot and on the workbench.

“It just smokes and sizzles and burns,” he said.

Other popular items he makes are picture and mirror frames, which Seidel builds and then decorates with bark, branches, antlers and other materials. He also attaches holders that purchasers can use to add more decorations, such as dried cattails or willow catkins.

He does dreamcatchers as well, using feathers both from native birds such as wild turkey and sometimes exotic species like peacock.

It’s been a good Christmas season, Seidel said, and then he’ll have a break for a few months. He used to work through the winter as well but said he’s reached an age in which he needs to pace himself.

“I’m getting too old for it,” he admitted.

A bachelor, Seidel’s main company at home is Chester, a 14-year-old springer spaniel — 98 in dog years, he points out.

Chester is short for Winchester, his registered name, Seidel said, adding he never uses that full name unless the dog had done something wrong. So it’s been many years, he said, since he’s called his dog Winchester.

“He’s like nine-tenths human,” Seidel said of his connection with Chester.

He starts every morning, he said, by telling his canine companion, “Well, Chester, us two old dogs, we wake up again.”