Teen restores furniture
A 17-year-old 4-H member spent $140 and 119 hours to restore a piece of furniture more than 100 years old for the 2006 Weld County Fair.
Abigail Sponaugle, daughter of Rick and Theresa Sponaugle of Kersey, found the secretary in her uncle Jeff Maxey’s barn.
“He was about to throw it away,” she said. It had belonged to her great-great grandmother, Edna Maxey,and had spent time in the home of her grandparents, George and Ruth Maxey. But it fell into disrepair and ended up in the barn, where it sat for 10 years until Abby got her hands on it. That’s when she decided to restore it and enter it in this year’s 4-H Restoration Project, where it won grand championship honors.
A member of the Box Elder Ag 4-H Club, Abby said she retrieved the secretary from the barn in April and started the restoration project in late May or early June in the shed at her family’s home between Kersey and Gill. She is home-schooled but participates in athletics at Platte Valley in Kersey.
She and her dad believe there may have been a mirror attached to the top of the secretary at one time, but they weren’t sure, so she rounded off the top. She believes the piece may be worth between $1,500 and $3,000.
Last year, she restored a coffee table, which she gave to her mother. She stained the secretary the same color as the coffee table and has set her sights on a chair that would match the two for next year’s fair.
And the secretary?
“It’s going to my room,” she said.
