From trash (literally!) to treasure

As I was driving in to work one morning, I saw that somebody had put several wooden tool handles in with their trash. I don't know what tools they came from, but the handles were dark, spattered with paint, and generally in rough shape. But while this person saw these as trash, I saw them as something different. They are about 5' in height and 1" in diameter. Also, tool handles are typically made of hard woods like oak or hickory. I pulled them from their trash pile and put them in my car.

My son and I used an orbital sander to quickly strip off the layers of paint, stain, and grime from their previous use. Once we did all that, we were left with a very nice piece of wood. We used a woodburning tool to put his name and Boy Scout troop at the top. We applied a stain with polyurethane to give it a nice color and shine. We then wrapped the handle area with a colored cord, starting with a clove hitch, doing a series of half hitches to create a spiral, then finishing with another clove hitch. At the bottom, we put a furniture bumper.

In the end, we had a beautiful hiking staff -- one that he will be proud to take with him on hikes and campouts. And to think that somebody was just going to throw it away.