Lloyd Road Throne is No Game
Creativity, craftsmanship, and hard work result in unique neighborhood landmark
When an overgrown, dangerous tree was felled at Tony Zingale’s property on Lloyd Road, all that remained was a large and strangely shaped stump. That’s when an idea popped into the head of one of Zingale’s triplet sons: why don’t we make that stump into a chair?
Enter Euclid resident and woodworker James Roodhouse, who volunteered to kick that idea to the next level: why not make it into a throne? Zingale was quickly sold on the concept, and Roodhouse began transforming that rough stump into a fine work of art.
in in his spare time, over a period of a few weeks, Roodhouse sawed, chopped, whittled, shaped, sanded, carved, stained, and coated the stump into a traffic-stopping, one-of-a-kind creation. After over 60 hours of Roodhouse’s time and talent, what now stands is something that, ironically, can be sat upon. It’s also, literally, a traffic stopper.
Roodhouse says that while working on the throne, every person that walked by would stop to talk, marvel at the progress, and ask questions. Drivers stop, too - in fact, one stopped to sanp a photo at the same moment these photos were captured. “We almost had a collision here last week,” Roodhouse said. “A car stopped suddenly to look, and the car behind just missed hitting him.”
But why wouldn’t the interests of passersby so intense? The unique shape, the custom staining, the carving of “Zs” into the sides of the chair and a cockatiel (in memory of the Zingale family’s pet of 19 years) carved into the back of the throne – all worth inspection and admiration (but probably not a traffic accident).
So if you’re strolling or driving down Lloyd Road, look for the Zingale/Roodhouse throne, a fun and notable addition to the neighborhood. And if you're interested creating a "throne of your own" or some other unique creation, James can be reached at jproodhouse@gmail.com.
O'Hare Jim
James O'Hare, a native of Collinwood, is a 35-year resident of Euclid. A former corporate marketing director and city councilman, O'Hare is a managing partner of Act 3, a creative media agency. He can be reached at james@act3creative.com.