This stick was made for walkin'

MOSES LAKE — “I made it so tall because Blake Shelton is a tall guy,” Bonnie Webb explains as she details the ornate walking stick she put countless hours of work into over the years, which she plans to give to the country music megastar next month during the Watershed Festival.

“He better be as tall as I think he is,” Webb remarked with a smile. “Because I made it this big especially for him.”

Webb’s foray into woodworking came as a result of a devastating injury in 1997 when she fell and injured her hands. The fall resulted in nerve damage and a lot of her passions, like sewing and crocheting, were put on hold without the full use of her hands. Webb’s husband later hatched the idea of introducing his wife to the world of woodworking and she was hooked soon thereafter.

“I started out doing a little magazine rack and then I did a big deal that you can hang your coats on and whatnot.”

Webb was able to combine her woodworking skills and love of country music into her first celebrity walking stick, which she gave to country music star Toby Keith during a concert in 2010 at the White River Amphitheater. Webb went to the concert with her daughter and during the middle of a performance of Keith’s hit song “I Wanna Talk About Me” she decided the time was right so she stood up and approached the stage.

“So I’m holding the walking stick up there and he looks at me and I went ‘happy birthday!’ And he comes over and takes it from me and then he’s holding it up on stage.”

Webb’s next celebrity was country music star Brad Paisley. She spent three years decorating the walking stick with a variety of different eye-catching features, including a fish that shoots flames, fishing rods and pictures of his family. A Columbia Basin Herald article documented Webb’s passion and desire to give the stick to Paisley and out of that article, Webb says, she got onto the star’s radar and was able to give the walking stick to him in 2014 during a meet-and-greet at Watershed.

“I went in and he looked at it and put his arms around us and took a picture. When we met him he goes ‘hi Bonnie’ and I was like ‘woah.’ He goes ‘yeah I know who you are. I saw that article from the Herald.’”

With Shelton’s walking stick finished and decked out with features ranging from The Voice logo, to Shelton’s arm tattoo, a flatbed Ford pickup truck and a honeysuckle and honey bee - a reference to Shelton’s hit single “Honey Bee” - she hopes to soon put the work of art into his hands. Webb is geared up and ready to do just that during the upcoming Watershed Festival, which is set to kick off Aug. 3 and runs through Aug. 5.

“I’m not doing this for the fame. After Toby Keith and Brad Paisley he (Blake Shelton) was the next one in line. Country western is my type of music, that’s what I love. Everything has just worked out, you know, and I have the time and can afford to do it and it’s fun to do. The coolest part is being able to give it to them, but even if I couldn’t, I would still be glad that I made them.”

Richard Byrd can be reached via email at city@columbiabasinherald.com.