Things I Think I Think: Project Log: Whispering Winds

Whispering Winds Sign Recreation

My wife is from Minnesota - a smallish town in the center of the state that is known for great lake resorts and great golf. She grew up on Round Lake, a beautiful spot right in the middle of the resort area. I've been going up for years and the driveway was always easy to identify by this sign near the road signifying that you had reached "Cibuzar's Whispering Winds". I never thought much of it and never really asked why they named it that, it was just always there, marking "home".

2014 Was a tough year for my wife's family. Her father, who was one of those truly great guys that you're lucky to meet in your lifetime, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. A short time later her brother tragically lost an infant daughter. As a problem solver by nature I wanted to help, but these were problems that I couldn't really "fix" - there really wasn't much I could do .

In 2015, a storm ripped through the area wiping out an enormous amount of trees and taking with it the Whispering Winds sign.


My mother-in-law surveying the damage.

While we were back up there for Christmas in 2015, I saw the sign just laying in the snow out behind the garage and I thought "That's something I can fix", so I took a bunch of pictures and measurements of the old sign and planned on building a new one back in Texas.

The first step (which I thought would be the most difficult but turned out to be the easiest) was to build the actual structure. I'm not a woodworking guy really, but we were having some custom cabinets built at our home so I consulted the experts and used some of the extra wood. The sign is solid and has an internal structure to make it just like a solid block. It's also sealed on the inside in an effort to help it survive the harsh Minnesota winters. I sealed it and stained it on the outside to add color and weather protection.

The next step (which I thought would be a breeze for some reason but turned out to be really difficult) was to replicate the design on the sign. I used all the pictures I had taken in December and created stencils to as close a scale as I could get them.

Once I had all of my stencils cut out I simply traced the design on to the sign. Keep in mind that the sign is two-sided so every step had to be repeated.

The sign then had to be hand painted. I matched the colors up as best as I could and just meticulously worked on it in the middle of the night after everyone went to bed for a week or so. It seems easy but it's not. You have to let sections dry before you can work near them for example and for some reason the yellow didn't really cover well. It took multiple coats.

When it was done I used a spray on sealer to clear coat it and then shipped it up to Minnesota ahead of our trip there in July. It was waiting in the box when we arrived and I had forgotten how heavy it was.

The new sign next to the original. I had decided from the very beginning to try to replicate it down to the last detail - no improvements. I even made the 'g' on Whispering backwards as it was on the original sign (even though it really bothered me). When I pointed it out I realized that no one in the family had actually ever noticed that the 'g' was backwards. I think I got it pretty close if I do say so myself.

I then took the original brackets off of the old sign and sanded them down for a repaint. I also went to Home Depot and bought a new post and some galvanized bolts.

Kyle mowed out front where the sign was going while I put a couple coats of paint on the old brackets.

I found out that the old sign had been out front for 43 YEARS!!! I panicked and went back to Home Depot and added a brush on clear coat and sealant. If my sign makes it 5 years I'll be happy. I dug a hole out front and Kyle helped me mix up a couple bags of cement and set the post. When it had dried the next day I mounted the brackets and sign with Branelle's help.