Roy Blaum of Roy’s Knife and Archery Shop
by Leah Draffen
Above: Roy fininshing a dachshund carving at the front desk of his shop. Opposite: A carving of Roy’s “ex-girlfriend.” 62
“IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE more exciting, I was going to recommend a friend of mine who can shoot a red bean from his nose,” Roy Blaum chuckles as I step into Roy’s Knife and Archery Shop. His sense of humor and skill with handcrafted objects may just put his red bean-nose-shooter-friend to shame. On a quiet Friday afternoon, we chat about how Roy’s Knife and Archery Shop came to be a quintessential establishment of downtown Covington. He signs and dates his most recent batch of hand-carved and –painted pelicans as he begins to talk. “I’ve been in
Inside Northside
this building since October 1980. I was in two locations before making my way here to a much larger space.” When asked why he went into business, he asks in return, “Well, you have to make a living, don’t you?” In the ’70s, Roy moved from his native Jefferson Parish to St. Tammany after a “career change” and to help his mother after the passing of his father. “Now a career change, that’s a nicer way of saying being fired. There was a job opening that I interviewed for over here that was paying $5 an hour. I asked for $6 and they wouldn’t pay me that, so I moved on to start my business.”
photos credit: CANDRA GEORGE mycreativereality.com
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