Retired longtime Plymouth resident Gene Heezen, 77, has been woodcarving for some 40 years. During this period, he has recreated more than 12 historic Plymouth buildings, including the Farmer’s Home Inn, Gilfillan Log Cabin and the Old Town Hall. Heezen works either from actual measurements or, more often, by consulting historical photos he gets from the Plymouth Historical Society.
“The most challenging model was the Wigwam Inn,” Heezen says of his craft’s challenges. “The whole building was covered with shingles. I cut miniature shingles out of sandpaper. I had to throw out the scissors I used afterward, as it was almost all gone.”
The work is a labor of love. Often Heezen’s favorite models are ones he has personal memories of; he and his wife Mary Ann moved to the Plymouth area from Des Moines in 1965. “All my creations fascinate the dickens out of me,” he says, “however, I do favor the largest one—the Farmer’s Home Inn. That building was still standing when we moved here. There is a cornice from the original building in the [Plymouth Historical] museum that I used as a template.”
Today Heezen’s models are treasured as local Plymouth history, and he’s working on new additions including one featuring Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox. You can find them displayed proudly in the museum located in the original Plymouth Town Hall, which is itself one of Heezen’s models.
