Memorial Stadium White Oak Pens

Oct 12, 2016, 10:03 AM

12/13/16 UPDATE: surprisingly, Dad is caught up on orders and has a little remaining capacity if anybody wants last minute Christmas gifts. If you get an order in by Friday morning (caveat: a "reasonable" order, not 15-20 items!), Dad will probably have time to make and mail in time for Christmas. Send me an email at clemsonpens@gmail.com, and I'll forward you the order form. Thanks!

Brian, c/o '95 & '97

Hi again, Tiger fans. Dad and I were pretty blown away by the sheer number of people who have stories about this white oak--just remarkable. Grandparents who used to sit under the tree. Parents who met there. One guy climbed the tree to watch the Notre Dame game in 1977. Several people have fathers and grandfathers who were part of the 1957 Forestry class that transplanted the tree (so while the tree is around 80-85 years old, it actually wasn't on the Hill for quite that long). If I can find the time to do it, I should compile these stories into a single volume, so if anybody wants to babysit while I do this, let me know.

When I put this post up the first time, Dad got buried in 2-3 months worth of orders within days, but he had a LOT of fun making these items for everybody. He wanted to offer another round of woodshop work for anybody that might want pens, bottle openers, wine stoppers/corkscrews, letter openers, pill caddies, and other stuff for Christmas presents. I'll include my original post below, which has contact info, but if interested in getting an order form, shoot me an email at clemsonpens@gmail.com, and I'll send it to you.

We got a handful of requests from several alumni from the 1948 and 1949 classes; Dad thought this was the coolest thing ever, and those gentlemen got their pens on the house. I told Mr. Smith we were sending him a pen, and he said "It may not make sense because I'm 90!" I told him "It makes all the sense in the world, sir. Go write with it for another 20 years." Hopefully he's ok with me posting a pic of his pen:

Also, I had numerous people inquire about oyster knives. Oyster knives are one of those items where you could get a cheap kit and make a semi-serviceable knife, but we don't really feel like it's worth the effort. Dad knows a few custom knife-makers who are working on a small number of oyster knives--not sure when they'll be ready or what the price will be ultimately, but if interested, just let me know. I've been working with a Lowcountry knife-maker named Quintin Middleton--you should go check out his work if you like high-end handcrafted cutlery; he will also likely be producing a small number of blades, including oyster knives, with handles crafted from this wood.

Here is my original post from back in May 2016:

http://www.tigernet.com/forums/thread.jspa?messageID=19422104

Wanted to pass along some info on a project I've been working on with my dad since 2015. Dad is an avid woodworker, and has been turning pens for the past ~8 years. He got hold of a few chunks of one of the 6 Live Oak trees on the Horseshoe on the USCe campus that was struck by lightning and taken down a few years ago. He started turning those into pens for Gamecock fans after getting a crafter's license from the university. After seeing how popular those were with that silly fanbase, I kept my eyes open for a similar opportunity on the Clemson campus.

In a stroke of bad/good luck, the huge white oak that stood next to the Hill in Death Valley had to be removed at the beginning of the 2015 season. When I heard it was being taken down, I scoured the campus to find somebody who knew what the fate of the tree might be. The Supervisor of Athletic Grounds pointed me in the right direction, and Dad and I were able to save some of this wood before it went into the chipper (terrible fate for something so historic). If you've been to a Clemson game in the last...well, EVER, you know exactly what tree this is.

Every tree on campus is numbered (or at least the large ones). The lone white oak in Death Valley, which stood near the Hill for around 80-85 years (give or take), is Tree #260021.

This tree:

This one is dated from 1959 or 1960. And check out the cypress benches that are now the bartop at the Esso--would love to have some of that stuff:

Not sure of the year on this one:

From the national championship season:

And a recent one, I believe from the 2014 season:

Procuring said wood:

Looks like sushi:

So, we cut up the wood, dried and stabilized it, and Dad turned a couple sample pens for some folks in the AD. Here's the one he made for DRad (just as a sidenote, this was the very first iteration, and the logos are a little different going forward):

Dabo's and President Clements' pens:

A few more:

The AD folks were pretty impressed with Dad's work, and he was awarded a crafter's license which allows him to produce a limited number of products with the licensed Clemson logos. So, here we are today; B-Meist and Crump were kind enough to let us pass this opportunity along to their subscribers. If interested, shoot me an email at clemsonpens@gmail.com, and I'll forward you the order form. Dad also makes bottle and wine openers, letter openers, pill/toothpick caddies, and a few other items--neat ideas for birthdays, Father's Day, or whatever. Couple different pen styles (with varying prices) as well.

Every item comes with a certificate of authenticity.

Again...dad is limited on how many he can produce, so there won't be thousands of these items floating around the country (nor does he have the bandwidth to produce that much even if he wanted to). Thanks again to B-Meist and Crump.

Thanks, Brian
c/o '95 & '97

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