Since he was a kid, Tom Lewis always possessed a resourcefulness, knack for woodworking and love out the great outdoors.
Moorestown Police Officer Tom Lewis, born and raised in Burlington City, has always possessed a resourcefulness, knack for woodworking and love of the great outdoors. When he’s not out patrolling the streets of Moorestown, the 43-year-old serviceman takes to his studio to produce hand carved duck decoys, which he calls Tommy Duck Decoys.
At age 6, Lewis began carving wooden masterpieces out of whatever tools he could find, including glass, scrap metal, weaving grass and sticks. Without instruction, he would create canoes, totem poles and figures inspired by the natural objects in nature.
“When my father saw what I was doing, he feared for my safety and gave me my first pocket knife,” Lewis said. “He also drew out a small duck on a block of wood and said, ‘see what you can do with this.’ I’ve been carving birds ever since.”
Growing up on the Delaware River, and hunting and fishing there and on Barnegat Bay, Lewis’ hobby began like many of the River and Bay legends, out of necessity. As a child, he did not have the money to buy decoys, so instead he started making them. Lewis often spent hours by a woodpile with a hatchet, and in any kind of weather, removing all wood from his pieces that did not resemble a duck.
As his decoy making advanced, Lewis made friends with other local carvers and “river rats” in the area. Included in these friends were locals Rick Chiemingo and Leon “Bucko” Borkowski, who often caved to his persistent nagging to cut his pieces of wood since he only had access to handsaws, hatchets and knives. Then at age 13, he additionally began taking carving lessons with another local carver, Vince Gianetto III.
In an area known for its deep history in carving decoys in the Delaware River style, dating back hundreds of years to when market hunters fed the dining industries of Philadelphia and New York, Lewis’ carving style has aligned with these traditional styles. However, while he now also carves in the Barnegat Bay style, he tries to reach a balance of staying true to his roots in style and technique.
“I’m also attempting to enhance the art of where it might be today and a little bit of my own style,” Lewis said. “Transforming a solid block of white cedar or pine using a series of hand tools into a work of art and then seeing people enjoy them is very rewarding.”
Although over the past two decades Lewis had drifted away from carving to raise two children, Katelyn, 20, and Andrew, 18, attend school and build a career, while working in Moorestown within the past five years he met James Doherty, a well-known decoy collector and author. Upon showing Doherty his work, the collector and author strongly encouraged Lewis to continue pursuing his work as a decoy artist.
“I discussed the idea with my kids and both strongly supported me with the idea,” Lewis said. “My kids and I have spent countless hours photographing birds. I would then use those photographs to carve some of my decoys.”
In the time since, Lewis has carved a few dozen duck decoys this year alone. Having given up watching television, he now carves just about every day he is off work, sometimes spending between 12 to 18 hours in his studio.
“I’m often asked how long it takes to make a duck and I don’t really know. It’s like asking a bookworm how long do you read,” Lewis said. “When you get lost in what you’re doing, time is no longer relevant.”
In 2014, Lewis was able to compete in a few duck decoy-carving competitions and won various ribbons. Then, in 2015 he won several blue ribbons for species and took first, second and third in class.
Another way in which Lewis has recently employed his carving stills dates back to March when he made a one-of-a-kind decoy also dedicated to fallen officer Sean Cullen, who was fatally injured when he was struck by a vehicle at the scene of a car fire on I-295 in West Deptford.
Lewis designed a duck decoy, alongside close friend Vincent McDermott, who made a one-of-a-kind duck call with lanyards, to honor Cullen. Both designed their dedications with the New Jersey State Police colors and each with a special dedication with Cullen’s badge number.
At the time of Cullen’s death, the laws did not allow certain financial coverage to be passed to his surviving family. Therefore, with the help of the Moorestown Township Police Department, Lewis and McDermott were able to raffle off their creations and donate the proceeds to the Cullen family in their time of hardship, and even helped spark additional fundraising efforts for the family.
“During this process, many police departments and people gave tremendous support. I have developed many friendships from around the country,” Lewis said. “Originally, I was trying to find a way of doing this anonymously, but we would not have reached the success without the support of Moorestown and its police department.”
As a carving artist, he has been growing and building on these awards ever since, and now attends shows as a vendor along with competing, and has taken on his nephew Timmy as an apprentice. He also has plans to start his own website, but for now his works can be viewed on his Facebook page, “Tommy Duck Decoys.”
