Walking Sticks Of
The Belwood Mall
Fla.v Willis wliilflos llioni for son-
alor.s. pro.sidonls and sick neighbors.
By HO HUM
“The walking stick serves the pur¬
pose of an advertisement . . wrote
Thorslein Vcblcn in his 1899 classic.
"The Theory of the Leisure Class."
And if Veblen could have visited the
Belwood Mall, he'd perhaps have de¬
voted an entire chapter to the art of
carving these walking stick advertise¬
ments.
It must be understood that Belwood.
while unknown across the state, is the
largest town in Cleveland County,
even larger than Shelby, the county
seat. It islhe largest, that is. in terms of
land area. When the people of Bel-
wood wanted to become a city, they
had to extend the city limits for two
miles rather than the traditional one
mile in order to find a hundred people.
Located near Toluca and Flay and
not far from Lawndale. Belwood is a
suburb of Casar and Dirty Ankle and a
near neighbor of Stub Toe. both of
which are not too far from Cruddy
Knee.
Belwood became a chartered
municipality for one reason: the old
schoolhouse was closed by the country
school decrees and the Belwoodians
wanted to save it. Almost as soon as
22
I.. WILLIAMS
the town was chartered, however, the
people hired a demolition crew to tear
down most of the schoolhouse. They
saved the cafeteria and the gym only.
Downtown Belwood consists of a
church and a grocery store, in addition
to the Belwood Mall, and a couple of
houses. The Mall, as everyone knows,
is the site of the Flay Willis store, and
Flay Willis is the Sage of Belwood. the
town's unofficial philosopher.
They’re Everywhere
He is also the official walking stick
carver, and his works have been dis¬
tributed all over the state, most of the
nation, and around much of the
civilized world. And when outer space
settlements are begun, it's only a mat¬
ter of time until Flay Willis walking
sticks make their appearance there.
Flay Willis is. after all. an artist with
a carving knife. His work is as de¬
manding and as skillful as that pro¬
duced by the painter or the sculptor.
On tunny doys Floy Willi» sit» on th« old
ЬсжЬ
outside his Belwood store ond does his corving. (oil
photos by Robert l. Willioms)
and the demand for his work is great.
At one time he even considered retir¬
ing and taking a world-wide trip,
financing the journey by selling his
canes. They bring about SI00 each
when the customer is lucky enough to
get one: the majority of his best work,
however, is given away to special
friends and fellow Masons.
Former President Gerald Ford, for
instance, is the proud possessor of a
Flay Willis original, and Flay has a
letter to prove the fact. Senator Jesse
Helms, also the recipient of a cane,
wrote Flay and said. "I have never
been prouder of any gift from any
friend than I am of the cane you sent
me." Ex-President Ford described his
cane as "a fine sample of your
craftsmanship."
Among state officials who have re¬
ceived canes are Jimmy Green and
Rufus Edmisten: Congressman James
Broyhill is also an honored donee.
Flay does all of his carving with a
traditional pocketknife. and he has
never had any training in the art. When
he feels the need to whittle coming on.
he walks through the woods until he
spots a broken limb or piece of deadfall
that looks likely, and he takes it home
and starts.
In The Store
In the pure customs of the old-time
general store. Flay sits at the potbel¬
lied stove in winter and carves, while
his friends and cronies come in to dis¬
cuss the weather, the latest news of
Knobby, the South Mountain version
of Bigfoot. the effect of the weather on
THE STATE. FEBRUARY 19B1
