He hand picked dogwood saplings for the hoops and they had to be perfect. He wanted Price Dogwood when he could find it. Dogwood as a building material, somehow captured my admiration and awe. I guess because we used it for so many things around our farm and fish camp. The dogwood hoops, among other things, became toys that we threw and and rolled down sandy lanes. The longest of the branches Dad used to construct garden trellises for the climbing butterbeans and tomatoes.
As a young child, I was right beside Dad in all of his doings. I was the older of two boys, so it "fell my lot" to accompany Dad. My younger brother's lot was: "Stay home and take care of your mother." I helped Dad build boats and make net hoops, carve net needles and blocks for gauging the size of the mesh in our nets.