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Long Beach Township's Hank DiPasquale carves himself a new life after retirement
By ELEANOR O'SULLIVAN
STAFF WRITER
In the cool of his garage on 40th
Street in Long Beach Township,
Hank DiPasquale works wonders
with wood.
"Well, I guess you could say that
it has given me a new interest
and an enjoyable way to pass my
time," DiPasquale says, pointing
to a neat pile of carved wine
stoppers, pens and corkscrews.
Now in the seventh year of his
retirement, DiPasquale has been
making and selling handcrafted
wooden items since his daughter
Dana M. DiPasquale encouraged
the pursuit.
"It doesn't surprise me that my
father is creating beautiful things
from wood or that he is excited
about each piece as if it was his
first one," she wrote in an e-
mail. "It has always been in his
nature to marvel at the various
forms the wood takes. What is
surprising to me is that he is so
modest about what he creates."
He uses both native woods —
such as cherry — and exotic
imports, such as cocoa bolo
from Brazil, zebra wood from
Africa and ambrosia maple from
South America. On his work-
table, DiPasquale has a rough-
hewn piece of wood he bought
from a Long Beach Island sup-
plier. He buys other woods from
the Internet, catalogs and a
woodsupply service in his
hometown of Philadelphia.
On the same garage worktable,
small slabs of dark and light
wood about the size of cigars sit
nestled together, looking modest.
Nearby, sitting in a handmade
stand, are what the modest slabs
look like after perhaps four or
five hours of work by DiPas-
quale — highly polished and
complex swirls of wood trans-
formed into pens with shiny
metal arms and internal work-
ings, or rounded and smooth
wine stoppers, also sitting in
their own stands.
STAFF WRITER
In the cool of his garage on 40th
Street in Long Beach Township,
Hank DiPasquale works wonders
with wood.
"Well, I guess you could say that
it has given me a new interest
and an enjoyable way to pass my
time," DiPasquale says, pointing
to a neat pile of carved wine
stoppers, pens and corkscrews.
Now in the seventh year of his
retirement, DiPasquale has been
making and selling handcrafted
wooden items since his daughter
Dana M. DiPasquale encouraged
the pursuit.
"It doesn't surprise me that my
father is creating beautiful things
from wood or that he is excited
about each piece as if it was his
first one," she wrote in an e-
mail. "It has always been in his
nature to marvel at the various
forms the wood takes. What is
surprising to me is that he is so
modest about what he creates."
He uses both native woods —
such as cherry — and exotic
imports, such as cocoa bolo
from Brazil, zebra wood from
Africa and ambrosia maple from
South America. On his work-
table, DiPasquale has a rough-
hewn piece of wood he bought
from a Long Beach Island sup-
plier. He buys other woods from
the Internet, catalogs and a
woodsupply service in his
hometown of Philadelphia.
On the same garage worktable,
small slabs of dark and light
wood about the size of cigars sit
nestled together, looking modest.
Nearby, sitting in a handmade
stand, are what the modest slabs
look like after perhaps four or
five hours of work by DiPas-
quale — highly polished and
complex swirls of wood trans-
formed into pens with shiny
metal arms and internal work-
ings, or rounded and smooth
wine stoppers, also sitting in
their own stands.
IF YOU GO On July 29 and 30, Hank DiPasquale will show his woodcrafts at the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts Festival, Long Beach Boulevard, Long Beach Township; the festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m July 29, and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. July 30. Suggested donation is $3. |
Hank DiPasquale of Long Beach Township uses his home garage as his workshop, where he carves wood products such as wine
stoppers and pens. He and his daughter Dana M. DiPasquale have a Web site that features Hank's items.
stoppers and pens. He and his daughter Dana M. DiPasquale have a Web site that features Hank's items.
Left, A wooden wine stopper, one of Hank DiPasquale's wood crafts. Right, A set of wine
stoppers - available for sale on his Web site - hand-carved by Hank DiPasquale.
stoppers - available for sale on his Web site - hand-carved by Hank DiPasquale.
Hank DiPasquale carves wooden pens in his Long Beach
Township home garage.
Township home garage.
"If you took a piece of wood and
cut it straight, you would get no
effect. But if you cut it on the
diagonal, you get this effect,"
DiPasquale says, showing the
swirled wood pen.
DiPasquale even made his daugh-
ter's infant's cradle, which is still
stored in the family's house in
the Brant Beach section.
Since his daughter nudged him
into selling his wooden crafts,
DiPasquale has found himself
steeped in wood: Two months
ago, he and his daughter set up a
Web site, where his product line
can be seen, and he is now a
member of the Cape May Atlan-
tic Woodturners club.
"We get together, carve, tell
jokes, talk — that kind of thing,"
he says.
In his career, DiPasquale was a
self-described "bureaucrat" for
several agencies and in city gov-
ernment, including the New
Jersey Transportation Planning
Authority, from which he retired
in 1999, and as business admin-
istrator for Freehold Borough; he
also served on the Monmouth
County Planning Board.
Artistic talent runs in the family:
Both his wife, Maria, and his
daughter paint in oil.
DiPasquale says he started car-
ving in his adolescence in Phila-
delphia, when he made patterns
out of wood that were eventually
cast at a foundry.
He still enjoys taking the humble
and making it elegant — he says
he's happy to work on commis-
sion for special requests.
"If somebody has an old rocking
chair they can't part with, I can
knock it down and make pens
out of the wood," he said.
DiPasquale's daughter says he
loves what he does.
"But after seeing other people's
reactions to his works of art and
the way their faces light up, his
brother and I were able to con-
vince him to start this small
business," Dana DiPasquale
wrote.
For his part, Hank DiPasquale
says her idea gave him a new lift.
"I've always liked working in
wood, so I guess I've come full
circle," he says.
He still enjoys taking the humble
and making it elegant — he says
he's happy to work on commis-
sion for special requests.
"If somebody has an old rocking
chair they can't part with, I can
knock it down and make pens
out of the wood," he said.
DiPasquale's daughter says he
loves what he does.
"But after seeing other people's
reactions to his works of art and
the way their faces light up, his
brother and I were able to con-
vince him to start this small
business," Dana DiPasquale
wrote.
For his part, Hank DiPasquale
says her idea gave him a new lift.
"I've always liked working in
wood, so I guess I've come full
circle," he says.
