Exacting detail on display at Du Quoin fair
When Henry Setzekorn, now 74, retired as a highway maintainer with the Illinois Department of Transportation he decided to replicate the orange 1995 International dump truck he drove for the department.
When it was finished, he took it back to the shop to show the guys. He set it on a table near the truck he drove. They all walked around it, picked it up, looked through the door windows on each side, saw the miniature calcium chloride (salt) spreader calibrator on the dash - then stepped back- and looked over at the full-sized 1995 International. One of the guys shook his head and said, "I can't tell 'em apart."
That's how exacting the work is on every John Deere tractor, the interstate wrecker, the Good Time Ice, Inc. refrigeration truck that his brother Marion Setzekorn drove and the Pioneer Seed Co. offices in Addieville, that will be used as a wedding card box.
The blades on the bat wing mower behind the John Deere tractor turn.
The wooden hydraulics on the crane he built raise and lower. The tilt bed trailer carrying another John Deere tractor drops down. There's a cattle hauler he plans to install lights on. There's an earth mover.
And, there's a smile on Henry's face as you look in disbelief at the kind of craftsmanship that only God's hand can help you achieve.
Henry lives in Nashville, Ill. and has brought 13 working pieces to a very special exhibit on the west wall of the Expo Hall at the Du Quoin State Fair.
It is an exhibit on loan to the fair. It is not in any of the competitions.
All handmade. There are 17 in his collection, but he brought only 13 to Du Quoin because the others would not fit in the display case.
Setzekorn has a wonderfully equipped woodworking shop in his basement. "My first piece was a John Deere pulling tractor," he said. "I like the IDOT truck the best." Everything is made from maple and walnut.
He spends hours in his workshop where he once built a magnificent 10-foot china cabinet for wife Betty. He says when he had clamps holding it all together, his wife had her doubts. When it was all pinned, glued and finished, she was thrilled. She measured it and said I would never get it through the doorway to the upstairs. I told her I was going to cut it apart with a chainsaw and haul it upstairs. It was actually built in pieces. One day while she was gone I assembled it upstairs. She came home and was surprised. It was a long time before I told her I din't use a chain saw," he smiled.
None of the items he has made are for sale. They are part of a personal collection that you need to see during the 10 days of the fair. You won't be disappointed.