The Art of Sharing

Local woodshop makes woodworking a social event

STORY BREANNA MANLEY & PHOTOS BY CLIFF WILLIAMS

Small towns harbor infinite hidden gems, mostly known only to the locals. One of Wetumpka’s hidden gems opened in 2020 but didn’t stay hidden for long, thanks to HGTV’s Hometown Takeover, which aired in March 2020. After Longleaf Wood Shop’s custom work was on full display throughout the show, owner Neill Thompson got orders from all over the country.

Originally from Tuscaloosa, Thompson got into woodworking nearly 30 years ago as a hobby after retiring from 32 years as a DEA special agent. He shares the business with his wife, Sylvia, and the rest of his family.

“I’ve been woodworking since the oldest son of ours – he’s 30 now – when he turned 2, he had to have a bed. We thought it’d be a good idea to make him a bed and save money. The bed went all right, and I’ve just been building things ever since. There’s not a room in our house in which I haven’t built something,” Thompson explained.

“I just got to where I enjoyed it more than anything. I really enjoy it,” Thompson said.

Like many, Thompson wasn’t quite ready to slow down after his retirement from law enforcement, so the hunt for something else to occupy his time was on.

“All our friends watch HGTV, but none of them ever did any woodworking. It’s just become a lost art. We thought it would be a good idea that instead of people just watching it, let them have an opportunity to try it,” Thompson explained.

Before long, Thompson and his wife were searching for a possible shop location in Wetumpka. One day, he just happened upon the location that would be his future woodworking shop.

“We looked forever for a place to put the shop, and everything just didn’t work because if a space was too big, it was out of our budget. My wife kept telling me I needed to look at an old bar where we were in Wetumpka. I knew the place, I had to raid it when I worked with law enforcement. I told her I’ve been there, done that. One day, I was buying her a camellia bush from the nursery across the road. It was snowing really bad, and anyways, I looked down, and the for-sale sign was on the ground. I called the realtor,” Thompson explained.

After purchasing the building, it took the couple close to nine months to transform the space into the perfect wood shop. While renovating the building, Sylvia came up with the idea to host date-night classes after they opened their doors.

“She came up with the idea to have couples at these classes and feed them. Her grandmother and my mom, you just couldn’t come around them without getting stuffed with cornbread, pound cakes or something, so we started date-night classes. The first two months, we had 350 couples. It was just crazy,” he explained.

Though their date-night classes featuring charcuterie boards is one of their most popular, the shop also offers classes in basic and bowl wood turning, as well as woodshop 101. All of the classes are about three hours each and can be booked online.

Once the pandemic hit, the classes were put on hold, leaving ample time for Thompson and everyone at the shop to focus solely on custom orders. And then, an amazing thing happened.

“HGTV called, and we ended up doing all of the custom work for the show in Wetumpka. We got to hang out with Ben and Erin, mainly Ben. We just love them. We also got to do a commercial for Michelin that was seen by 6.5 million people. From that, we’ve sent orders to 40 states because the show was so popular. Now that COVID has eased back up, we’ve had over 4,500 people in our classes,” Thompson said.

The shop sees a lot of customers coming to classes, including the occasional bachelorette party. The shop also hosts corporate businesses in their shop for classes. With classes and custom work orders, Thompson and his family stay busy at the shop. Last year, Thompson was tasked with making 80 cutting boards for Alabama Power Company’s Christmas catalogue.

“We do a lot of business with people at the lake. We do a lot of bar tops and things like that. We do all kinds of stuff – islands, headboards, tables. We just love our Lake Martin people,” he said.

One of the most popular custom projects is tables. With the option for a custom order, customers could receive several mock-ups of their order. Communication and complete customer approval are big for Thompson and the rest of the team.

“We love doing tables because families gather around them. Memories are made around them. When our family gets together, we don’t like to get up from the table. We just like to sit there, so it’s important to us that our customers have exactly what they want. We just want it to be real custom,” Thompson said.

The shop has a number of different woods for customers to experiment with, which offers more flexibility and options for ordering custom pieces. Customers can fill out a form on the shop’s website, detailing their idea for a custom piece.

Following this, customers will be in close contact with Thompson and others from the shop to create their dream, custom piece. Along with displays of their accomplished woodworking, the shop welds for projects that require metal work. They also engrave items for shop class members that want to add a recipe or saying on their finished works.

Last year, the shop added a retail showroom for customers that want to purchase items right when they enter the shop. Items available for immediate purchase include cutting boards and bowls.

Longleaf Wood Shop could be the perfect place to start a new hobby or purchase a unique gift. The shop at 3116 Wetumpka Highway, Montgomery, is open Tuesdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Wednesdays through Saturdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Check out pictures of their work and contact information on their website at longleafwoodshop.com.