The old ash tree had stood for an estimated 60 to 70 years on the west side of the Washakie County Courthouse. It was 3 feet in circumference when, in 1999, a tree company declared the ash was dead and a hazard.
They were wrong.
When groundskeeper Heather Shryack discovered the stately ash had been healthy when it was cut down, she was determined it wouldn’t go to waste.
“She's a scrappy little gal, and she really knows her gardening,” said her husband, Terry Shryack. “Heather saw the whole tree was solid as a rock and that there was absolutely nothing wrong with it.”
The Washakie County Commission agreed that it was Heather’s tree and so she promptly hired an oil field company to haul it to her husband’s sawmill, despite protests from the tree company. Heather wasn’t going to be stopped in her mission to save the wood.
“Everybody's upset when a big tree gets cut down here, without a doubt,” Terry said. “It was a treasure that we weren’t going to let get by.”
Over the years, Terry had made furniture out of the smaller pieces of the ash tree at his house in Winchester, including a rocking chair and small end tables.
As the decades rolled by, he forgot about the large pieces of the ash tree he had stored in their shed — until he decided to build a table with local artist Calvin “Cal” Fulfer as an ultimate honor to the old ash tree.
The result is a 600-pound table with a river of treasure running through it.
Terry Shryack is a talented wood worker that has used the wood from an old ash tree, cut down in its prime by mistake, to build a rocking chair and now, a 600 pound table in a medieval design. He is grateful to his wife, Heather, for saving the wood so that today, the memory of the ash tree lives on in his furniture. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Terry Shryack is a talented wood worker that has used the wood from an old ash tree, cut down in its prime by mistake, to build a rocking chair and now, a 600 pound table in a medieval design. He is grateful to his wife, Heather, for saving the wood so that today, the memory of the ash tree lives on in his furniture. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Terry Shryack and Calvin "Cal" Fulfer teamed up to build a 600-pound table from the wood of an old ash tree that Shryack's wife rescued from the Washakie County Courthouse in Worland. Shryack is a talented woodsmith while Fulfer is a visual artist. The result was a beautiful tribute to a tree they said was cut down in its prime. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Visual artist Calvin "Cal" Fulfer has spent over a decade repurposing material into his art. The result has been an eclectic collection of petroglyph fish made of old typewriting parts to Styrofoam blocks to create an Egyptian entrance. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Visual artist Calvin "Cal" Fulfer has spent over a decade repurposing material into his art. The result has been an eclectic collection of petroglyph fish made of old typewriting parts to Styrofoam blocks to create an Egyptian entrance. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Visual artist Calvin "Cal" Fulfer has spent over a decade repurposing material into his art. The result has been an eclectic collection of petroglyph fish made of old typewriting parts to Styrofoam blocks to create an Egyptian entrance. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Visual artist Calvin "Cal" Fulfer has spent over a decade repurposing material into his art. The result has been an eclectic collection of petroglyph fish made of old typewriting parts to Styrofoam blocks to create an Egyptian entrance. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Calvin "Cal" Fulfer of Worland has spent the last decade repurposing old relics of our past into his art. His latest project was partnering with Terry Shryack to build a 600-pound table from the wood of an old ash tree that was cut down at the Washakie County Courthouse nearly 30 years ago. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily)
The Artist
Fulfer is an "old-school Deadhead" who spends his time in his workshop listening to the Grateful Dead and surrounded by repurposed art.
Since retiring as a tile layer, he has dedicated the last decade to creating award-winning sculptures out of abandoned relics of the past.
His walls are decorated with petroglyph fish made of old typewriter parts, Styrofoam Egyptian walls and computer circuit board bolo ties. Tiny snails made from old forks and marbles crawl across glass tabletops and a train sculpture runs its engine.
In the midst of this eclectic art, the giant ash table is set up in a corner and represents the largest art piece Fulfer has done to date. Fuller said it was based on a design from the Middle Ages.
“They call it a French trestle table,” Fulfer said. “They would send the servants out to put the table up for the banquet.”
The table can be disassembled into four sections by pulling out handmade dowel pins. A good thing, Fulfer said, considering the size.
“Terry is a really accomplished woodworker and I'm more of a visual artist,” Fulfer explained. “It took him a year to build the table and me a year to build the top.”
This is the second table the duo built together. Two years ago, they built a table top out of Russian olive wood and Fulfer painted 101 goldfish as the accent. The table was for a fundraiser for Terry’s stepson, who had an emergency heart transplant.
Calvin "Cal" Fulfer said that he is grateful that Terry Shryack saved the wood from an old ash tree that was mistakenly cut down nearly 30 years ago at the Washakie County Courthouse in Worland. It took the duo a year to build the 600-pound work of art that they are now planning to sell at a Cody art gallery. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
An ancient ash wood tree was mistakenly cut down in its prime at the Washakie County Courthouse in Worland in 1999. Groundskeeper Heather Shryack rescued the wood and nearly 30 years later, her husband, Terry, and visual artist Calvin "Cal" Fulfer have made the wood into a stunning 600-pound table, mixing medieval design with modern art. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
An ancient ash wood tree was mistakenly cut down in its prime at the Washakie County Courthouse in Worland in 1999. Groundskeeper Heather Shryack rescued the wood and nearly 30 years later, her husband, Terry, and visual artist Calvin "Cal" Fulfer have made the wood into a stunning 600-pound table, mixing medieval design with modern art. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Visual artist Calvin "Cal" Fulfer discovered a technique of painting up to 8 layers of a fish and covering each layer with resin. The result is a 3D fish that people are convinced is more than just paint. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
An ancient ash wood tree was mistakenly cut down in its prime at the Washakie County Courthouse in Worland in 1999. Groundskeeper Heather Shryack rescued the wood and nearly 30 years later, her husband, Terry, and visual artist Calvin "Cal" Fulfer have made the wood into a stunning 600-pound table, mixing medieval design with modern art. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
An ancient ash wood tree was mistakenly cut down in its prime at the Washakie County Courthouse in Worland in 1999. Groundskeeper Heather Shryack rescued the wood and nearly 30 years later, her husband, Terry, and visual artist Calvin "Cal" Fulfer have made the wood into a stunning 600-pound table, mixing medieval design with modern art. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily) 
Calvin "Cal" Fulfer of Worland has spent the last decade repurposing old relics of our past into his art. His latest project was partnering with Terry Shryack to build a 600-pound table from the wood of an old ash tree that was cut down at the Washakie County Courthouse nearly 30 years ago. (Jackie Dorothy, Cowboy State Daily)
The Treasure River
Fulfer had discovered a technique of painting an acrylic layer of a fish and pouring resin over the painting. He will repeat the process up to eight times to create a 3D image of a fish people are convinced is more than just paint.
For this ash table, Fulfer wanted to keep the theme western. He painted trout and crawdads rather than his usual goldfish.
“Terry just kind of turned me loose at the tabletop,” Fulfer said. “While I was searching for the right theme, I started the process by visiting ant hills.”
Fulfer said he pilfered the ant hills for their tiny sand pebbles, which he washed before pouring on the bottom of his resin river. As he worked, he began hiding treasure into the bottom of his river and larger river rocks.
“I inherited a bunch of stuff from my brother when he passed,” Fulfer said. “He was a jeweler, and so I thought, why not, and put some of his rings and necklaces into the table.”
The ash table now honors not only the old tree that was cut down in its prime, but also bits and pieces of Fulfer’s own family.
“We call it Guardians of Treasure Creek,” Fulfer said. “It just kind of evolved into its own weird, fun river.”
Pieces of the ash tree still remain remain and both Terry and Fulfer continue to find ways to make sure the wood is incorporated into useful art.
“I’m just glad they rescued that old tree,” Fulfer said. “It's tough to tell what we're going to come up with next.”
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
