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MASON - In the year
1163, Maurice De Sully, the Bishop of Paris, decreed the
construction of a new cathedral for France's capitol city.
Named Notre Dame De
Paris — Our Lady of Paris in English — Sully planned the
construction as a magnificent seat for the French Church knowing
full well that it would not be completed in his lifetime.
In fact, it took
182 years for the soaring structure to be completed.
For almost 950
years, Notre Dame Cathedral has been regarded as one of the crowning
achievements of architectural grace and beauty not just of France,
but the world.
It has been
painted, photographed and even sculpted. In fact, for a select few,
blessed with endless patience, and sure, steady hands, it has become
one of the ultimate challenges for a most unusual hobby.
Matchstick
construction.
On July 24th of
last year, Joe Cutich, a retired railroad man, began his own
construction of a replica of the Notre Dame Cathedral. Using a kit
containing blueprints and thousands of matchsticks, over a period of
five months, working steadily every day, he chopped the thin sticks
to size and gluing them in small sections on a layer of plastic.
When the sections dried, he glued the pieces together and went on to
the next section. He went along that way until February 17th, when
the work was finally completed.
The result may not
have taken nearly two centuries to complete, but in its own way it's
still a stunning work of craftsmanship.
"Sometimes I
would sit up until one in the morning, Cutich said. "But it's
something I love doing, it makes me happy, it keeps me
occupied."
Cutich lost his
wife Rita three years ago, but he still remains in the house they
once shared in the Bayfield County community of Mason. He said he
took up the hobby as a way of keeping his mind and hands occupied.
"My daughter
bought me puzzles, but I got tired of them; they drove me
crazy," he said.
Then his daughter
sent him a matchstick kit, and it was a revelation.
"I just liked
putting them together," he said. "I enjoyed it, that's the
main thing."
Cutich has
completed everything from an 18-wheeler semi-tractor rig to a
paddle-wheel steamboat, from a pirate ship to a steam locomotive. He
made and gave away a steamroller to a buddy in Arizona, and gave the
18-wheeler to his grandson.
But the cathedral
is far and away the most ambitious project he's ever undertaken.
"Everybody who
has seen it says it's beautiful," said Cutich with evident
pride.
The first thing
that comes to mind upon gazing at the matchstick marvel is to wonder
how anyone could have the saint-like patience to precisely cut and
glue thousands upon thousands of twig-thin sticks together and then
precisely align them together to form the structure.
Cutich says it
probably comes from the years he spent as a tile layer.
"I laid tile
in hospitals and colleges and jails, all over. When you lay tile,
you learn patience," he said.
Nevertheless,
Cutich said the actual work of cutting, gluing and putting the
sections together to make a whole project was actually pretty
straightforward, if exceedingly labor intensive.
"It's like
building a house," he said. "You gotta follow the
blueprints."
The completed
project now rests on a large plank. Cutich said he wants to put the
model on a suitable backdrop, but isn't sure what kind of background
the real cathedral sits on.
He's also not sure
what to do with the completed project.
"I'm almost 80
now and I don't really know what to do with it," he said.
"I'd like to donate it somewhere.
Cutich said he
couldn't put a dollar value on it.
"I put a lot
of hours on it," he said. "But I had a lot of fun with it
and I'm proud of it."
Cutich says he
plans on building another matchstick project, as soon as his
daughters mail him one.
Cutich, who is
approaching his 80th birthday, still has an unmistakable zest for
life and a sense of wonder that belies his years.
"I love what
I'm doing, I do what I want. It's a beautiful world and I love
it," he said with an impish smile of childlike delight.
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