In celebration of Veterans Day on Nov. 11, Bland resident and wood carver Hank Scheel donated an almost seven-foot tall eagle he sculpted to the Missouri Veterans Home-St. James. 

Scheel used a chainsaw to carve the sculpture out of a walnut tree on his family’s farm that was struck by lightning. His path to wood carving started just two years ago when he was left dealing with the effects of a work accident that left him disabled a year prior.  

“I was involved in an accident with an 18 wheeler and I had carbon monoxide poisoning,” Scheel said. 

The case closed a month ago and although Scheel legally agreed to not mention the company’s name, he said that the accident had severely affected his mental and physical health. He turned to wood carving for art therapy after he described himself spending years in bed.

“When I closed the case, it was like a light switch went off, and I don’t know how to explain it. My therapist talks about tunnels all the time and about the lights all the way at the end of the tunnel. I finally think I made it out of the end of the tunnel. So I’m hoping that I can keep rolling with this and stay out of bed.”

Scheel said that Steve Conrad, President of the Missouri Veterans Home Assistance League-St. James, initially approached him about carving a bear, but Scheel wanted to carve something “more creative.” He proposed the idea of an eagle, which was cleared after Conrad helped with the paperwork needed to get it approved to be placed in the Veterans Home lobby.

Around 100 community members, including Missouri State Representative Tara Peters, joined Scheel for the unveiling of the sculpture on Veterans Day outside the Veterans Home. Scheel was joined by his wife Sami Nicole, and their two children as he reflected on why he donated this large and extremely detailed piece of art to the Veterans.

“I’m not a veteran myself, but my uncle was,” Scheel said as he held back tears. “I still have his jacket and it means the world to me to donate this to the Veterans Home.”

Scheel, who spent a month working on the sculpture, was overwhelmed with the reception he received during the unveiling.

“I’m so blessed by everything,” Scheel said. “I went through hell for three years, it’s like I woke up into a new world. I don’t know how else to explain it, but I’m blessed in so many ways.”

Scheel said he hasn’t been selling any of his art but plans to start after seeing such a positive reaction from his work.

“Originally, I didn’t want to sell any of my work while I was going through my stuff, and I wanted to start a nonprofit and just donate to nonprofits to be able to give all my artwork away. But now I feel like I can do so much better as a for profit for the community and I could still give more away.”

Scheel’s business’ name is ‘Unconditional Carving’ and can be found on Facebook and YouTube if anyone wants to commission a piece.