A former alcoholic has found peace and focus working in nature by crafting unique, natural wooden canes and walking sticks from branches sourced from the woods behind his Maine home. He credits his craft with keeping him five years sober and counting.
“Once I started making the canes, that’s when I really became sober because I felt good,” Frazier told The Epoch Times. “I felt good about myself, I felt good that I was doing something for somebody else, beside myself. Now today, I can talk without arguing. I go out in the woods and it’s nice and peaceful, there’s nobody there but me and nature.”
Frazier’s humble-looking, lovingly-crafted wooden canes have been featured in the news media nationwide, and examples will be showcased at the Maine State Museum in Augusta this year.
The Life-Transforming Passion
Frazier made his first-ever wooden cane for his fiancée, Val Ritchie, while newly sober, after realizing a store-bought cane would cost around $40—more than they could afford.“I went out to the woods and got me a stick. I shaved it down and I sanded it,” he said. “I’ve actually still got the very first cane I made ... for her, and it’s got the Serenity Prayer [engraved].”
Frazier recalls taking his first drink at the age of 15, claiming the peak of his addiction was “horrible,” where he consumed over two 12-packs of beer a day. When he moved into a Maine trailer park 22 years ago, he met Val, his soulmate, and the pair worked for the park’s landlord together.
“She got me sober,” Frazier said. “She made me realize that my landlord was taking advantage of me; he was keeping me drinking just to get free work. She woke me up. Since then I fought with [my addiction] for 20 years.”
Around 10 years into his struggle, Frazier had kicked the alcohol but got into a severe car accident and was prescribed painkillers for a fractured back and shattered ankle. He spiraled “deeper with the drugs” once his prescription ran out, finding the strength to quit completely in 2017.
Over the years, Michaud has seen immense changes in his grandfather. He has “calmed down a lot,” he said.
“He was very belligerent, violent, loud, uncooperative. He was a ball of fire,” Michaud said. “He started looking toward sobriety, never really found it ... he needed something else to do. He started to notice that it felt good to be able to give somebody something that could help them.”
‘There’s Always Another Way’
A retired property maintenance manager, Frazier now sells his canes at local craft fairs and boutiques for between $20 and $25 to recoup expenses and donates half of his proceeds and half of his inventory to people in need, elderly care homes, and addiction treatment centers such as Maine’s Blue Sky Counseling who have helped him maintain his sobriety.Frazier said that when someone comes to him expressing that they can’t afford to buy the cane, he doesn’t shy away from giving it to them. “I know in my heart that they can’t afford it, so most likely I'll give it to them,” he said.
Watching his grandfather find his flair for making canes, Michaud decided to help by dreaming up the business name—Walk With Us Woodworking—and launching a website and social media to share Frazier’s inventory and receive donation requests. Frazier, who cannot read or write, is the sole craftsman and handles the finances.
“Our slogan is, ‘We’ll make you a custom walking stick or cane right from your backyard,‘ because it’s true,” Michaud said. “We go right into the woods, right back of our house or somebody else’s house, as long as we have permission, we’ll find one that looks good enough and we'll make it beautiful.”
Talking about the feedback and people’s reactions so far, Michaud said: “They love the work. They love the story. They love the idea. They love the concept of everything. We’ve never had a single negative feedback.”
Frazier’s most recent happy customer was a woman who gave a single specification for her cane: it must measure 33 inches long. Inspired by two design ideas, Frazier made two canes and the woman bought both, planning to return with a friend.
The family has received orders from as far afield as South Carolina and California and their business is growing with each passing day.
Frazier has found purpose and a sense of achievement, plus relief in knowing that he doesn’t need alcohol to alter his mindset. As for his ongoing sobriety, Frazier reminds himself every day that alcohol is not a fix-all solution for his problems.
“There’s always another way,” he said, advising others, “Don’t be scared of judgment or neglect. If you relapse, just keep trying; all you can do is try, and if there’s people out there who put you down about it, just don’t listen.”
Michaud said: “Don’t be afraid to ask for help, and don’t be afraid to be creative. You never know where it can take you.”
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