Naseby Vision committee member Marilyn Swinbourn said they initially planned to have a seat cut into the stump, but when the committee discovered Jakob Stadler’s work they decided to dream bigger.
Mr Stadler created penguins and sea creatures from tree stumps at the Waikouaiti golf course. In Naseby he will turn the remains of a tree into a gold prospector checking for colour in his pan. There would be a space next to the carving for people to take their photos with it.
Bark was being stripped from the stump at Mr Stadler’s request and on Monday work will begin.
It was expected to take about a week and because it was in the playground, people would be able to see it take shape, Mrs Swinbourn said.
"Apparently he works night and day. Once he gets started on a job he just won’t stop."
Exact cost for the project was hard to predict, but would be no more than $7500 and could be less, she said.
Naseby Vision had put up $2000 to get the project under way and had so far gathered nearly $3400 towards the final cost. To boost the coffers they had laid a grid of 100 squares over the design image and were selling each square for $25.
"The plan was to give playground users a bit of ownership in the project," Mrs Swinbourn said.
A donated load of firewood was for sale, with all the money going to the fund.
If all else failed there were local benefactors who would help if requested, she said.
However, Naseby Vision members were hopeful they would recoup their initial seed funding through donations — large or small.
"[We’re] just hoping enough people will literally buy in or we’ll be selling firewood and rhubarb forever to make up the funds again."
