Give Don Viens a cocktail napkin and a ballpoint pen and he can sketch an idea for just about anything. In fact, I’d put money on a Don plan that doesn’t even require hard copy. Need a piece of furniture or an ornate item for your roof peak, a garden shed, or an entire house? Don can make it happen.  And, quite possibly, he can make it happen in a way that you may never have envisioned using unusual materials from a 150-year-old barn stored under a tarp next to his shop. It’s as if wood has been waiting for Don’s next unique project, waiting for it to arrive. The more irregular, in many cases, the wood, the more uses revealed. Recycling is part of the genetic fabric of Don’s vision. Ideas present themselves in a karmic fashion. Wood offers reuse and Don finds a way to create new from old. It’s almost surreal.   

Don came to Maine from New Hampshire in 1971. His first job was at the Boothbay Railway property with Manley Stover. Perhaps being around building talent and a variety of new experiences fit well with a curious mind. The creative brain began to accumulate possibilities perhaps without Don’s actively knowing. The Railway Village was an opportunity to observe and learn. In his 20s, Don did just that, feeding into the reservoir that would eventually lead to a career of creative projects. From the Railway Village, Don moved on to the sawmill at the north end of Adams Pond.

The next chapter of Viens' story, for me, came with Don’s Barnstormers enterprise. Many in the area will recall his big old van as he and his crew moved throughout the region mostly framing up new structures. It's about that time that Don and I crossed paths, partly due to a common interest in trucks and motorcycles. At the heart of it, we are both gear heads. I grew up driving loads of explosives through the hills of Pennsylvania and crashing bikes. We had stories and I even sold Don a BMW 250 single cylinder motorcycle. He had quite a collection.

When we bought the old Boothbay fire station in 1995, we needed some furniture for displays. Don got the call. To this day, the wonderful pieces that he created are still in use in our daughter’s studio. They were created from saved materials that Don had collected from old structures he had dismantled. With a touch of butcher’s wax on assembled bins, the furniture still garners comments and admiration. At this same time, Don began to build his legendary garden “sheds” and I got the call to photograph them. His creative imaginative structures can be seen throughout the area with an ample inventory at his shop and house, which were also built with recovered materials, all masterpieces of design and quality.

Mr. Viens also had a bit of musical interest. For some time, he played congas with one or more of Mark Stover’s bands, along with notable local troubadours like Danny Beal, Dickie Spofford, Arthur Webster, Paul Johnson, Lefty, and maybe Brian Rittershaus. I’m not sure about which players were in which bands.There were a few.

Another cog in the wheel of a truly adventuresome life. Don does not lack for things to do or ideas to explore. He hasn’t tried skydiving yet, at least not that I know of!