Prince William resident carves ornament for Governor’s holiday tree

Prince William County will be well represented at the state capitol during the holiday season this year thanks to Frank Chergosky, a member of the Woodbridge Senior Center who carved an ornament to hang on this year’s holiday tree in the Executive Mansion in Richmond.

The Executive Mansion, with help from the Virginia Association of Counties (VACo), set out to collect handmade ornaments from each of Virginia’s 95 counties, 38 cities and 191 towns. Each jurisdiction was asked to submit one holiday ornament that was handcrafted by an adult and that uniquely represented the community. The theme of this year’s tree is “Celebrating Virginia’s Localities.”

Chergosky, a member of a woodcarving group at the senior center, decided to carve a 5-by-5 inch relief in wood of a cluster of three bluebell blossoms. The bluebell is the official flower of Prince William County. It took him about three weeks “off-and-on” to complete.

Other members of Chergosky’s woodcarving group are delighted that his little piece of art will hang on the tree.

Kay Kendall said she and the others are proud of Chergosky, even though he doesn’t say much about his work. Instead, he seems to prefer to spread the credit around and said he was “inspired” by Leo Moore, the instructor of the group of woodcarvers. “He made a little sketch for me, and I took it from there.”

With the size restrictions set at 6-by-6 inches, Moore, a retired human resources manager, said Chergosky’s talents lend themselves to the requirements of the project. “Frank specializes in the reliefs. He can do very small detailed work. He can carve real rich relief, and to top it off, he does the painting. It came out very nice. He’s got some good, ornate skills.”

Chergosky is a U.S. Air Force retiree who also retired as a civil servant from the U.S. Coast Guard.