Instructor Builds, Donates Rocker
For New York City Fire Department

"I need to do something to help those people who are suffering so much."

These are the words of Russ Filbeck, associate professor of Cabinet and Furniture Technology at Palomar College, who decided to donate a ladder back rocking chair--which he made--to the New York City Fire Department.

"I am donating the rocking chair in memory of all those fire fighters who lost their lives at the World Trade Center on 9/11/01 as they responded to the 911 calls for help," he said. "I want all the fire fighters nationwide to know that we all appreciate their sacrifices for us."

The chair even has a name: "911".

This particular rocker is made with cherry wood and incorporates steam-bent back legs and slats with bent lamination rockers, Filbeck explained. The slat pegs are made of rosewood, and the seat is woven with the inner bark of a hickory tree.

The chair parts are split from the log and then shaped by hand using a draw knife and spokeshave, Filbeck said. The rocker has an oil finish, with the oil sanded into the wood "to create a sensously smooth surface."

Filbeck is retired from the U.S. Navy's Submarine Service and is a graduate of San Diego State University. He teaches classes in Windsor and Appalachian ladder back chair making at Palomar.

Each summer Filbeck travels to Berea, Kentucky, to harvest "green" or fresh-cut oak, walnut, maple and cherry wood for chairs. He also cuts hickory bark for weaving the seats.

As he packed the chair for shipping to New York, Filbeck said he would request that it be retained by the fire department there and be made available to any fire fighter's family when the fire fighter is injured in the line of duty.

"My desire is that the families of the injured fire fighters use this chair as they sit by their loved one's hospital bed," he explained.
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Article and photo courtesy of Melinda Marchuk

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