Donita Schacklin, Dennis Schacklin and Marcus Janssen pose with the carving Janssen made of a soaring eagle and a bear in the tree in front of the Schacklins’ house in Snohomish on June 28. The carving took nine days to make and is made of a ponderosa pine the Schacklins planted more than 40 years ago.
Evan Morud
SNOHOMISH — Riverview Elementary School has a new unofficial display of its mascot.
The Schacklin family has lived across the street from Riverview for 42 years and recently hired a chainsaw carver to create a carving in the lone tree in their front yard. After nearly two-and-a-half years of contemplation amongst the family as they looked for the right carver for the job, an eagle to match Riverview’s mascot felt right.
“Our son went to Riverview and he is 50-some-odd years old now,” homeowner Donita Schacklin said. “He was an Eagle, and we have lived next door to them for so long now, it was just a classic thing to do.”
Marcus Janssen, a chainsaw carver in Snohomish, was the right man for the job.
Janssen began his career working for his dad as a carpenter, but he quickly developed a new interest.
Chainsaw carving was introduced to the Janssen family while Janssen and his dad were remodeling a kitchen for another chainsaw carver, Bill Todd. While on lunch Janssen would sit and watch Todd at work.
“We became friends with (him),” Janssen said. “My dad wasn’t sure what to get me for Christmas one year, so the guy told my dad to get me a chainsaw.”
It may have started as entertainment during his lunch break, but Janssen quickly found his own passion for chainsaw carving beginning nearly seven years ago.
Janssen began to sell his carvings online, building a social media presence. It’s how the Schacklin family got in touch with him.
“They wanted an eagle, but they did not really mind what the pose of the eagle was going to be,” Janssen said. “They ended up wanting a bear in there, too, so there is a black bear at the bottom, but honestly they let me have a lot of artistic freedom.”
But while working on this carving, Janssen was rarely alone.
Donita Schacklin called the school to ensure students could watch Janssen carve during June. Nearly every day there was a different Riverview Elementary class to cheer Janssen on.
“I figured that this was something that they do not necessarily get to watch happen,” she said. “They always see the aftermath, but they do not see the starting point of the tree and the process that comes with it.”
So after nine days and many helpful cheers from Riverview students, the new display of a Riverview Eagle is complete.
