Sometimes Corrigan sells her pieces to people

Soon she added snowmen and other Christmas-themed objects to her repertoire.Sometimes Corrigan sells her pieces to people who ask for them. She has also participated in art shows. But her primary purpose in carving is the sheer joy of it."It was supposed to be fun, and it is," she said.Corrigan creates her pieces out of basswood, a straight-grained, medium-density wood."It's relatively easy to carve, although you can find a hard piece once in a while," she said.The High-Country Carvers primarily use hand tools in their work. The touchably soft edges to Corrigan's pieces are nearly all achieved through careful whittling."I very seldom ever touch any sandpaper to anything," she said. "It's all with knives and gouges."Gouges sound potentially dangerous, but Corrigan is quick to assure would-be carvers that whittling is actually safer than it looks.It's amazing how very few cuts we get," she said. "We wear safety gloves and have a thumb guard on usually. A few don't, but 95 percent of us do use safety gear."The group is always searching for new carvers to join them. High-Country Carvers' membership has dwindled over the years.

At one time, anywhere from 15 to 20 carvers met regularly to enjoy their hobby and share tips and stories, Corrigan said. But over the years, the group's average age has risen. Some members have died.The group has about six to eight regular members now, Corrigan said. Three of them are women.Anyone, of any age and ability, is welcome to join the carvers at their weekly meetings, she said. Group members are always willing to offer tips and help novices get started.Police are searching for a white male who robbed a Lake Sunapee Bank branch at gunpoint shortly before noon on Wednesday.Lebanon police officers arrived at the Hanover Street bank just seconds after the robber took off on foot toward the Lebanon Towers senior housing community with an undisclosed amount of money.Surveillance video released by police shows a man wearing a black mask and carrying a black bag entering the bank. Police said the man stepped up to a teller's window, demanded money and brandished a handgun. He then stuffed the cash into the bag and left the bank, according to police."I saw a masked man come out of the bank and pull the mask off and run away," an eyewitness said minutes after the robbery.