Taking A Trip To Colombia Falls? Keep Your Eyes Peeled For These Cool Creations

Did you know there's a spot in Washington County where, at any given time, you might very well see a giant fire-breathing dragon, a six-foot pelican on a perch, or a ten-foot black bear standing watch over one particular workshop?

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In the town of Colombia Falls, if you pass the world's largest Blueberry dome and the boatyard, you'll come across the yard of Mike Furbush. And depending on what he happens to be working on that day, you could be treated to quite the sight.

"I had a ten-foot-tall moose out there for a little bit. Then I had a five-foot-tall bear...I've got a nine-foot-tall pelican out there, well, he's on a stand. He's about six-and-a-half feet without the stand."

"I've got a dolphin out there coming out of a wave."

"I've got a whale's tail. Whale tails are popular."

Furbush created these pieces, and if the weather permits, he sticks them out by the side of the road to give folks something cool to look at.

Furbush started his career at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard, welding nuclear submarines.  After a reduction in force ended his career at the shipyard, Furbush went on to work in the postal service as a Postmaster in New Hampshire for many years.

He says he went back to welding again after he retired.

"Every trade has its own art. I've seen pipefitters who were just phenomenal artists with pipe. And I know a girl who was an electrician, and she makes copper wire jewelry and does a beautiful job."

Six years ago, he and his wife Annie moved from New Hampshire to Maine, and he started using his skills as a fabricator to make small things like brackets. But after some folks who lived next door asked him to do a project for their deck, the projects started to become more involved after that.

"My neighbor asked me if I could do some deck railing, some deck panels for his house he was building, so we did those all by hand. Then I started fire pits, and it just keeps evolving."

Furbush says he's done everything from gates to fireplace surrounds to deck railings and signs to bigger pieces.

He says he started off using salvaged materials, but has since moved over to new steel.

"My firepits started out as salvaged skidder wheels...Then I ended up buying a small CNC plasma machine."

"Now I use newer material when I can, unless I find something really unique in salvage."

"You know it's steel and everything has these little pointy bits, so I have to be really careful that when I do stuff, it's not in a way that kids can fall on it and stuff. Usually, I do more fire pits than animals."

This particular piece, the fire-breathing dragon, is rigged to expel actual fire, if you can believe it.

Furbush says it was his daughter who got him on the track of doing the big steel animal fabrications. He had asked her what it was that she wanted him to make, and her answer surprised him.

"She sent me this picture of this panther and said, 'Dad, I want you to make this for me,' and I said, 'Oh crap!' And that was the first one, and then I just see other stuff I like and just try to make it. "

Furbush says he's met a lot of folks who have taken an interest in his work.

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"By chance or by appointment. They drive by and ask."

"I had somebody pop in the other day and ask if I could do a clam...I got online looking for clam sculptures, and found out there's a clam sculpture out in California that's made out of concrete. It's just poured concrete, and it's about five feet something, and it's supposed to be the tallest clam sculpture in the world....Well, I've decided I'm going to make a clam...so I'm gonna make an 8-foot or 10-foot clam!"

Furbush says his new hometown is known as the Home of Wreaths Across America and for having the world's largest lobster trap (along with the Blueberry dome), so why not add to the list?

"I might as well add a large clam to it. So Colombia Falls will be known for the largest clam and lobster trap, and we don't have any seafront!"

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Furbush says he enjoys working on these projects, on his own time and at his own pace, and that his wife, Annie, encourages him. He's even added a geocache to his property to give folks something extra to look forward to.

"I don't advertise. I just do the stuff that I want to do. It's just a hobby...Annie encourages me. She likes everything I do, so she makes me feel good. So if she's happy with it, I'm happy with it, and we'll go on to the next one."

"I'm not an artist, I'm a fabricator...It's fun to do and keeps me busy...If it weren't for that, I'd be fishing every day. "

You can check out more of Mike Furbush's creations on his Facebook Page, Sign Shop North.