MERCER COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — Before cell phones and smart watches took over, knowing how to tell time from an analog clock was pretty much a necessary survival tool.
Now, all we have to do is look at the digital clock on our phones. The classic clock face isn't entirely out of style. In fact, a Harrodsburg man is working to make sure we don't entirely lose track of time.
"I'm always looking at my watch," said Keith Chambers, owner of Woodwerks. "I guess I have a bad thing about that."
Chambers makes handmade clocks from Kentucky wood.
"It was a hobby because I made stuff for my daughter," he said. "I got the big idea, I'm going to make wooden gear clocks and I'm going to sell them."
Chambers says he watched companies downsize in the 2000s.
"I got laid off in 2011," he said. "They were down to 11 employees."
At the time, family grew older. He took care of them. He spent hours, minutes, and seconds in his shop, nearly around the clock, preparing for art shows near and far.
"Shaker Village, I've done it for about two years," he said. "A big show around this area is Woodland Art Fair."
"I like doing outdoor shows," he added. "But the weather has been kind of hard to deal with lately."
Sometimes we just want to pause time and go back to less expensive times, a world without a pandemic, and more peace. Chambers says the show must go on.
"Right now I'm doing about seven shows," he said.
On the other hand, as far as what's to come, he knows only time will tell.
"Going forward, I'll probably only do three or four shows a year," Chambers said. "Yeah, I'll work out here until I drop. As the old saying goes."
Chambers says he's looking forward to shows at the Shaker Village Art Fair and the Woodland Art Fair coming up in the next few weeks.
