In 2015, we lost a dear member of the Huston & Company family, Ethan Verner. Ethan was an incredibly talented young man. Ethan was a master furniture maker, he was a talented upholsterer, he knew his way around a lathe, and he could fix and repair just about anything – from furniture to computers to shop machinery. He was a huge asset to Huston & Company, and a dear friend to all of us.
Each year, we celebrate Ethan with an event we call “The Vern Burn”. In true Ethan style, we set aside a day to delve into some of Ethan’s favorite things: Cool Ranch Doritos, Mountain Dew, Jagermeister, shooting a potato gun, a big fire, go cart racing and more. We invite all of those in our extended Huston & Company family who knew and worked with Ethan: vendors, customers, furniture makers, and friends.
The 2017 Vern Burn was held on Friday, November 3rd. The weather was perfect. It was a very warm fall day (70 degrees), with a moody sky that changed from sunny and bright blue to stormy; but it never stormed.
This year, we added paper crane folding to our activities. Ethan loved origami. We plan to make 1,000 cranes in time for next year’s celebration.
Sonny, our resident music-man, was our DJ for the day, playing mostly mixes of his own making.
The potato gun, with fuel (hairspray)
Everyone gets a couple of turns in the go-cart. The course record is 1:14:58. Bill Huston is pictured here, making one of three required turns around the pine trees.
In the back field, you have to race over a jump, around a bush, and then “do a donut” around a big blue barrel.
As you leave the back field, you come around to the parking lot and do another donut in the dirt, to finish the course.
The big fire, which gives the celebration its name.
Shoot the potato into the air, then try to catch it as it falls. Turns out, this is not easy. The Vern Potato target is in the background.
Another addition this year: shooting spray paint cans with a BB gun.
Till next year, Ethan!