In the garage of his home south of Starkville, Reed Sparks is busy using a belt sander to smooth his latest creation.
The 11-year-old fifth grader who attends Overstreet Elementary School is due in about an hour at the batting cage, where he will get some swings in to bolster his prowess as his traveling youth baseball team’s three-hole hitter. But first, Sparks needs to finish a few more wooden cars for his burgeoning business.
This is a normal afternoon for Sparks, who in a short six months has learned how to use woodworking equipment and carry on a family tradition — not to mention reap the reward of some extra money in his pocket.
“I’m doing something I love and making a little bit of money,” Sparks said. “And it keeps me out of trouble.”
Reed’s great-grandfather passed away in October 2020 and left his woodworking equipment to Reed’s father, Ryan Sparks. At first, just Ryan tinkered with the equipment, making cutting boards and stools that he started selling at local market events such as Sunday Funday in the Cotton District.
Going through their relative’s old things one day, Ryan and Reed found several of the old wooden cars he used to make when Ryan was a child. That prompted Reed to start learning the ropes himself, and he took to it rather quickly.
“It’s cool,” said Ryan, who as a child helped his grandfather with woodworking. “I think my grandfather instilled the joy of all this in me, and it’s nice to pass it on.”
Reed’s cars, all about three or four inches long, are made from scrap wood pieces. They aren’t painted, but Ryan will glue together strips of different woods — cherry, maple, bodock, mulberry and oak, among others — to create different color schemes.
From there, Reed stencils the car shapes he wants, cuts the woods with a band saw and smooths the edges with the belt sander. For convertibles, he’ll use a spindle sander. He always finishes them with a hand sander.
While Reed works independently through most of the process, Ryan uses the drill press to drill the holes for the wheels.
Reed’s wooden car slate has sedans, convertibles, trucks and trailers, and cars that come with accessories like surfboards.
“This one looks like a Kia,” Reed said Tuesday, holding up one of that day’s creations.
He sold a few at a Sunday Funday market in October. At a market in Louisville, he sold 20 in three hours. By Christmas, he had sold more than 100.
“I was really shocked,” Ryan said. “I didn’t know there was such a demand for small wooden cars. … The coolest thing to me is not so much that he learned how to make them, but it’s how he interacts with customers and sets the prices. He’s really learning the business side of it.”
The easiest place to buy a Reed Sparks wooden car is at the Poorhouse Market on the corner of Old Highway 25 and Poorhouse Road south of Starkville.
They move pretty fast there, too, according to owner Tammy Carlisle, but Reed brings more each time they sell out.
“I had his first batch for about four days before I sold them all,” said Carlisle, whose market focuses on locally produced food and handcrafts. “People are just really excited about a young entrepreneur. Reed is a very articulate, bright young man. I see him doing great things.”
Reed enjoys and learns from every step of the process. The end result is his favorite.
“I enjoy making them, but the best part is selling them,” he said. “I like to see the looks on people’s faces when they buy them.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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