Driftwood center pieces

There aren’t too many places for a person to go, especially in Central Florida, when they are looking for a piece of driftwood for a special project. I have a limited supply of just raw wood that I do sell, but the majority & particularly the nicer pieces I keep for my furniture. However, on occasion, I will work with customers, allowing them to use certain wood as long it’s returned in a timely manner & unaltered.
Such was the case when Ian Tafoya, special events manager of the Country Club of Orlando, approached me about needing some table center pieces for a big event the Country Club was hosting. The CMAA (Club Managers Association of America) was having their annual meeting & wine dinner with 165 invited guests. They are the professional association for managers of membership clubs.
What Ian had in mind was 20 pieces the size of my floor lamps, so fortunately I had that many potential floor lamp stumps on hand. They were still in their raw state…. dirty, wet & not level. I was really wondering how in a few short days he was was going to transform them into center pieces suitable for a dinner banquet.





The day before the dinner I dropped a few more pieces off & got the opportunity to see how Ian had worked his magic on those very rough, rustic stumps.
They were completed in time & the “sea” theme was finalized. By Ian’s account it was a very successful night.