A Chip Off the Old Block

Woodcarving is clearly different than my day job, there’s a precision and creativity there that’s also present in accounting. It's been interesting developing that part of me.

"My dad was a Marine who served in WWII," says Bernard R. Gingras, CPA. "I grew up in a household of eight people with one bathroom where you said 'yes sir, no sir.'" That same sense of discipline and respect has served the younger Gingras well over the years.

"One long-time, well-respected Upsala accounting professor 'drafted' me into accounting. He decreed that 'from now on, you're an accounting major until you change,'" says Gingras. Well, he never did change and graduated with a B.A in accounting in 1973.

During his senior year at Upsala, Gingras became an intern at John J. Eccelston & Company in Paramus. "I became a partner in 1976 and basically had since forgotten what it’s like to work for someone else," notes Gingras. By 1989 Gingras felt it was time to go out on his own. "My firm is like the old country doctor, we do a lot of the basics and do them well," says Gingras.

Gingras talks about the CPA designation and wanting to be involved at a high level, achieving a degree of excellence and becoming prepared to lead others.

At one point in his life, Gingras found himself with quite a bit of disposable time. Not to suggest that he was driving his wife Irene crazy around the house, but she bought him two months of tuition at the American Woodcarving School in Wayne.

He practiced and honed his woodcarving skills at the school and in his basement studio to the point where he now has a website featuring a multitude of pieces. "I loved cowboy and Indian movies as a kid, so I do a lot of western-themed sculptures," notes Gingras.

The website is merely for display; it's not a commercial site. "I don't sell them, I do it for myself or to give sculptures as gifts," says Gingras. "I've won a number of awards at shows, and that's very gratifying." Gingras works in a variety of woods, typically bass wood, and each piece can take six to nine months to complete.

There's one piece that stands out on Gingras' website called "Hill 382" which captures the bloodshed, horror and fear that Gingras' dad and many other servicemen endured during the battle for Iwo Jima. The carving comes from a photo of that battle. While it's not confirmed, Gingras is pretty certain that one of bloodied and bandaged men in the photo is his dad. "I just hope my carving did those Marines justice," says Gingras.