Some of the sharpest minds in a Minneapolis neighborhood have come up with a beloved ritual — they gather each year to sharpen a gigantic pencil!
The pencil is actually a 20-foot oak that has been sculpted to look like the humble writing instrument — and the event gets high marks from the more than 1,000 people who gather on the front lawn of John and Amy Higgins, who commissioned the woody replica as a way to repurpose their majestic tree after a storm lopped its top off a few years ago.
“Why a pencil? Everybody uses a pencil,” says Amy, adding that the design won out over the more typical chainsaw-carved north-woods bear.
Wood sculptor Curtis Ingvoldstad accepted the challenge of turning the oak into a rendition of a Trusty brand No. 2 pencil…