Sunny weather is making things more pleasant than usual for chainsaw carvers in Ridgway this week.

We stopped by the festival that started on Saturday to see how things are going.

Organizers say this is the first time they’ve held the Rendezvous in March, and they did it because of cold weather last year.

“It wasn’t fair to the carvers to stand out in that wind that was just below zero,” says organizer Lisa Boni from Chainsaw Carvers Rendezvous.

Boni says they decided to “March forward” and hold the event in March. This is the 17th year and she says there are about 180 carvers. Those out on Monday morning were enjoying the sun.

“Today I’m just gonna do a penguin with a baby. I like to make lizards and turtles and chairs and flowers,” says carver Cindy McMurray from Bellwood.

“I learned it by starting out with small things, whittling things down, and then doing some hand-carving, and then about 15, he let me pick up the chainsaw,” says carver Steve Nilson from Williamsport.

Nilson says his dad, who’s 78, is a longtime carver at an amusement park near Bloomsburg, and taught him the tricks of the trade.

“I wanted that he’d do better than I did, so then he took up the fancy carving. I just cut stuff real quick,” says carver Donald Nilson from Danville. “He’s done pretty well. He’s made me proud of him in that way.”

“You have to want it . You have to have the desire and the need in you and the ability to do it. Not everybody can do it,” says Steve Nilson.

For those interesting in trying it, one carver speaking at the American Legion said not to hold the saw too tight, because that absorbs all the vibration, which can cause neuropathy.

He also said owls sell well, but recommended putting a unique twist on each carving, and working with people’s “awe” of carvers. “Sell them a bear!” he said.

McMurray says a friend helped teach her the basics of the hobby, and it was her dad that helped start the spark.

“When I was little, my dad took us out west and we saw a chainsaw carver make a little chair and I was kind of fascinated by it ever since,” says McMurray.

The Rendezvous continues throughout the week and Saturday at noon, they’ll hold an auction of some of the pieces the carvers have been making.  That piece is the entry for the festival, which provides the logs.