Wreath maker brings Wis. woods to Chicago suburbs

~ The wreaths are made from Midwestern evergreen varieties like Red Pine with some West Coast additions.

GENEVA, Ill. -- Squirrels like to steal the rosehips from Bill Shumway's wreaths as they hang in a tent on Third Street.

"We had a full ear of corn ... I don't know where it went ... so we could hopefully distract Mr. Fat Squirrel," said Shumway's sister and assistant, Suzie Harrod. She poked branches of Oregon boxwood into a kissing ball while Shumway showed customers his wares.

Shumway, 46, grew up in Batavia, Ill., eventually moving to Wisconsin. He has been selling his handmade wreaths and decorations in Geneva for 18 years.

"My folks encouraged me to set up retail here," Shumway said. It was after his move that Shumway became a "wreather."

He works as a fishing guide for much of the year, but Nov. 1 marks the beginning of his wreath-making.

He began making wreaths as a wholesale business with a partner, Shumway said. While much of the local economy in his Wisconsin town depends on tourism, Christmas wreath factory work tides many over after the season ends.

"Men and women both get employment at these factories to see them over," Shumway said.

'Still on the trees'

Shumway's wreaths are made from Midwestern evergreen varieties like Red Pine with some West Coast additions like Oregon Boxwood. Shumway picks his materials by permit in Wisconsin's woods, beginning after temperatures have dropped below freezing.

"My raw materials are still on the trees in Wisconsin," Shumway said.

Shumway's wreaths differ from factory produced ones, he said, because their parts are fresher, which makes for a longer-lasting decoration. Factories get their wreath materials in October so that wreaths can be ready by Thanksgiving, Shumway said. This means they may not last as long as the handmade kind Shumway sells.

"Some people leave these up until Easter," Shumway said.

Over the years, Shumway has made everything from the kissing balls -- round hanging arrangements -- to a flat evergreen tablecloth for a dessert table.

"I'm usually too busy to keep that level of creativity up," Shumway said, referring to the tablecloth. "I'll do practically anything if a customer asks me."

Harrod began helping her brother about seven years ago. Harrod, of South Elgin, handles the customers while her brother bends boughs, wires them to the base rings and adds the layers of wreathing materials.

"I love talking to all the women of Geneva," Harrod said. "Bill's like, 'You talk to all the ladies so I can work.'"

Shumway said Harrod's help has been invaluable as he works to complete the 200 to 300 wreaths and half mile of garland he will make in a given year.

"I couldn't do it without her," Shumway said.

Since getting into the wreathing business, Shumway has learned the proper ways to handle the items, often advising customers on both decoration and wreath care.

The worst thing people can do, Shumway said, is to put wreaths in a stack.

"It just crushes them," he said.