Page 9 - Harnett Life Spring 2021

A commissioned concealment flag for a retired Army officer.

is a little more “into technology” than her husband. Ziady is a
McElroy owns other examples of Ziady’s wood crafts, too, conventional craftsman who enjoys working with his hands and
including a wooden wall-displayed American flag she had tools rather than computers.
made for her husband’s Christmas gift. Another, she lovingly
added, is the cross-adorned plaque complete with engraved While the Ziadys’ two children ― daughter Amber Dunlap,
lyrics from “The Old Rugged Cross” that her husband, she married with three boys and manager of the circa 2014 Miller’s
said, “slipped around and had made for me.” Ziady made the Landscaping Supplies store, and son Zack, age 17 ― do not
first one for her sister, she explained and “then my husband participate in their parents’ woodworking, Ziady said he hopes
wanted Mark to make one for me, too. I got it the week before his grandchildren will pick it up.
he passed away.”
When asked about favorite pieces he has made, the shadow “I have one grandson who has shown a real interest in going
box for “Miss Joan,” as he calls her, was one of Ziady’s first with me to the woodshop,” he said. “I hope it continues. It may
replies, right after the large cross at Miller’s Lawn & Land- come back to where people have to do things for themselves
scaping and a family piece, an old chest of drawers, he refin- by hand once more. I believe I am helping to keep a traditional
ished. He noted his love for creating decorative plaques, too, skill alive.”
with cedar and walnut being his top material picks, which he
sources locally from felled trees and job sites as much as pos- Meanwhile, the husband-and-wife duo keep each other com-
sible. When buying commercial lumber, he prefers cedar and pany a lot in the shop. “The laser engraving gives me a way to
also pine ― softer wood, he said ― for the ornamental and work with Mark and complement what he is doing,” Kimberly
engraved work. said. She designs in Corel Draw, a software program with “a
seemingly infinite number of things you can do with it,” she
“Walnut is dark and not as good for engraving,” Ziady said. said. “Imagine a giant printer that burns designs into the wood.
We program it by importing stock photos and designs along
For the engraving work, working alongside Ziady on many with the lettering or wording that we choose and create.”
projects is his wife, Kimberly. She learned to laser engrave
due to interest and a desire to be involved, explaining that she Every time, the result is a customized piece created by the joint

Harnett Life ~ Spring 2021 Page 9