Time and Trajectory with Gerry Boltz
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
by Karen Hendricks
[Originally published in the Spring 2026 issue of Mount Gretna Magazine. View the full issue to see this story in its designed layout, complete with additional images.]
Cedar waxwings — with striking yellow feathers — are one of Gerry Boltz’s favorite birds.
Appropriately, Gerry notched a golden milestone last August: an unprecedented 50th year as an artist juried into the 51st Annual Mount Greta Outdoor Art Show. The only year he didn’t participate was the show’s inaugural year.
“I didn’t know about that first one,” he recalls with a laugh.
It was during the early 1970s, just as his artistic endeavors were taking flight. By the show’s second and subsequent years, he was on board. As a woodcarver focused on birds, Gerry’s skills and reputation soared through the years.
Today, at 81, he treasures those 50 years with fondness and gratitude, including the art, friendships, and relationships that took flight.
Building a nest
“People often say we’re a team,” says Jeanne, Gerry’s wife of 58 years. The Lebanon natives met in first grade and began dating in high school.
Following college, as they settled into married life, Gerry devoted 30 years to teaching sixth grade and 27 years to coaching high school track and field, all within the Palmyra School District. All the while, Jeanne taught first graders in the Cornwall-Lebanon School District.
Gerry’s carving talents intertwined with their home and career life, nurtured by a fateful family vacation in 1972. While visiting Jeanne’s family along the St. Lawrence River in Canada, the next-door neighbor introduced Gerry to carving.
“He was a river man. He took fishing trips, did decoy carvings — he was quite a character,” Gerry says. “Jeanne’s dad and I would sit outside, and he explained how he carved decoys — and how we might want to try it.”
With a couple of pocketknives and rough-cut wood, they gave it a whirl. Gerry’s talents took off from there, leading to painting classes, woodcarving workshops, and birding vacations. Waterfowl carvings led to songbirds, eagles, and hawks.
“It has been amazing to see his talents grow,” says Jeanne.
Talents take flight
Gerry meticulously numbers each carving on the bottom — he’s surpassed 1,700. Customers are scattered throughout the United States from Florida to Maine and even in Alaska. He’s also transported his work to Europe, including Germany and the Netherlands, where he created a stork for those customers.
“The most challenging birds were a life-size piliated woodpecker and a full-size red-tailed hawk with its wings out,” Gerry says. “But the most popular birds are chickadees, cardinals, and wrens. I’m always sure to tuck nesting material in each wren’s beak.”
From start to finish, the process begins with basswood, rough-cutting, lots of carving, wood-burning detail work, and painting. It’s all accomplished in Gerry’s home studio — a small workshop, itself carved out of his garage, all with supplies and tools at his fingertips.
“I try to get each bird as lifelike as possible by using a lot of reference material from pictures and measurements,” says Gerry. “I would say my work is Audubon-influenced.”
And, under the trees of old Chautauqua, his art has also been influenced by Gretna.
The perfect perch
“In the beginning, the show was around the playhouse,” Jeanne recalls. “We simply set up a card table. People didn’t have tents back then.”
Today, from their home in Cornwall Manor, Gerry and Jeannie recall cherished memories of past Art Shows.
“You could see all the folks — former students, teaching colleagues, and customers. It was like a big party,” Gerry describes.
Through conversation, many customers became friends.
“Everyone seems to have a story about a bird,” Gerry says. “We developed bonds with customers through a shared appreciation of birds.”
But the relationships didn’t end there. For 20 years, the couple owned a Campmeeting cottage and invited customers to stop by after the show for refreshments.
“I would also write and send a thank you to anyone who bought a carving,” Jeanne explains. “I think they saw that, for us, it wasn’t as much about bringing in money as it was appreciation for Gerry’s work.”
While Gerry’s birds were juried into additional shows, including the prestigious Waterfowl Festival in Easton, Maryland, Mount Gretna’s Art Show always felt like home.
“The No. 1 thing is the setting, being in the woods, and the quality of the artists,” Gerry reflects.
Last summer, the couple savored Gretna’s magical Art Show one last time, with Jeanne appropriately referring to it as “Gerry’s swan song.”
“It was my best show I ever did, in all the years,” Gerry says, as he sold more birds than ever before. But his carving days are far from over: He continues carving special orders and birds to donate to nonprofits.
Ultimately, Gerry hopes his carvings of some of nature’s smallest, often elusive creatures have inspired people.
“Birds add beauty to our lives,” Gerry says, “and I hope people are more attuned to the real world, to seeing and appreciating nature.”
Karen Hendricks is a lifelong journalist based in Central Pennsylvania whose work has garnered more than 20 journalism awards. She enjoys helping Central Pennsylvania wake up and prepare for the day as host of WITF’s “Morning Edition.” Karen is also writing her first book, a memoir about running. Learn more about her work at WriterKarenHendricks.com.
