Walkingsticks-jewelry.com

Mr. Bittner finds the wood, carves it, then works out some but not all of the knots and imperfections. Then Karen Bittner takes over, hand-buffing the wood with shoe wax before applying what Bill calls the spritz, a leather-loop handle or maybe a touch of her handmade jewelry.

Now, the Bittners are branching out. Fresh from a vacation to the Vancouver, B.C., area, they have been making inukshuks, wood-carved versions of Inuit landmarks that are the emblem of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

The garden-sized stone sculptures were used as signposts that guided travelers along their way, which is why the creations appear to look like tour guides pointing in one direction or another.

Now, wood-carved versions of the inukshuks show up on the Bittners' mantle, bookshelves and bar nooks, sharing space in their Deer Path town home with their walking canes, his watercolor art and her jewelry.

Mr. Bittner, 69, had a distinguished career in the Sto-Rox School District where he taught social studies for 27 years and was a principal for five. As his retirement in 1993 neared, he and his wife began to hang out at crafts fairs. The most memorable one was Penn's Colony at North Park.

"There was a guy there who had walking sticks and he was selling them unfinished. I think I paid $5 for them," he said. He quickly found that the stick gave him just enough support to turn the stroll around the grounds into a comforting ride.

"I got to thinking after I retired, 'I could do that.' "

Mr. Bittner's idea was to craft a finished stick instead of the rough-cut ones he first spotted. Next, his interest in America's frontier days kicked into gear. That's when he got the idea to call his product the Natchez Trace walking stick.

I tried to connect the walking stick with history," he said. "I'd like to think I'm a pretty good historian on migration moving westward in the 19^th century, particularly this side of the Appalachians."

The Natchez Trace was a trail used by settlers that moved from the Alleghenies to the Southwest. It coursed the southern Appalachians through Alabama, Georgia and Texas, a journey captured in James Michener novels and also "Cold Mountain" by Charles Frazier.

"It was like the Oregon Trail and the Cumberland Trail," he said.

"I gather the wood pretty much anywhere I can find it. I'll see sticks like the one you see there (with) certain widths and lengths and say, 'That would make a nice stick.' "

The types vary but are always Western Pennsylvania hardwoods like maple and hickory.

A finished stick takes about three days and the Bittners have done perhaps 150. He sells them for $15 to $35.*

* The above article about Mr. Bittner first appeared in the August 16, 2007  West section of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette.

Bill Bittner, former Sto-Rox teacher, crafts walking sticks from branches.

About Bill Bittner