PARKERSBURG - Among piles of tornado debris, a longtime woodworker saw lasting mementos.

Twisted, mangled lumber could be salvaged for Christmas ornaments, the Rev. Neal Ooms thought.

"The idea just came to me," said Ooms, of Hope Reformed Church in Parkersburg. "Really, I would say it was the Lord's idea. We just have the privilege of being able to carry it out. I just started wondering, 'What is one way that we can remind ourselves of God's grace through this whole event?' "

He set out gathering lumber remnants from damaged homes before they were trucked to landfills. About three-fourths of the wood came from two properties.

"I would talk to the homeowner and say, 'I have kind of a special idea in mind, do you mind if I grab a piece of two-by-four?'" Ooms said. "And they all said, 'Sure.'"

But Ooms needed help cutting out 844 ornaments - one for each Parkersburg home. He separated the usable portions of wood, and cut chunks 3/8-inch wide with his table saw and band saw. He then used his planer to shave them down to a quarter-inch thick.

The Cedar Valley Woodworkers Association took it from there. Wanda Bailey, a Woodworkers member, designed the 3-inch circular piece with a cross in the middle. With too little space to scroll in 2008, the date has been stamped on both sides.

"She said, 'What do you have in mind?'" Ooms said. "I said, 'Oh, just something real simple.'"

A few coats of lacquer sprayed on top is a neat finish, said Bailey, who with her husband, Paul, made a couple hundred ornaments.

Some 12 to 15 of the approximately 105 club members chipped in their time, Bailey said. Some cut keepsakes one by one, while others employed a speedier method.

"We did what we call stack cutting," said Pat Vollbrecht, president of the Woodworkers, who made 106 ornaments. "We put four pieces of wood together, so we were able to cut out four at a time. So, at four at a time, you're looking at 25, 26, 27 different cuts to cut them out."

And the final products were better than he'd imagined, Ooms said when he met Bailey at Wiley's Christian Book Store to pick them up Thursday. A woodworker's wife donated ribbon to tie onto each ornament, which Ooms said would be a perfect Sunday school project.

"Oh, Wanda, I'm speechless," Ooms said. "What an incredible gift. Can I give you a hug?"

Ornaments will be distributed in late November or early December by the church's youth group or a Christmas church service.

"The hardest part is going to be figuring out people who are scattered to the four winds while their houses are being rebuilt," Ooms said. "How do we get it to them?"

Bailey pointed out a few of the keepsakes with imperfections, characteristic of the twister that ripped through the town May 25.

"That's part of the beauty of it," Ooms agreed. "You can tell that's where it got battered a little bit."

"That's right," Bailey said. "Just like the residents of Parkersburg."

Contact Tina Hinz at (319) 291-1484

or tina.hinz@wcfcourier.com.