Nothing says “proud American” like a 5-foot-7 cutout of a super-hero eagle clad in red, white and blue and holding an American flag.
This patriotic creation stands in the front of the Canyon Lake home of Betty and Harold McCray, who teamed to create this original work of art.
Harold, 80, carved the eagle cutout from plywood, and Betty, 78, painted it. It took them about a week to finish the project.
“There are so many retired GIs over here,” Betty said, “and with the way the country is, anything will get the morale up. We just wanted to show people that we’re still proud of our country.”
After serving 24 years in the Air Force and opening and operating the Parkway Drive-In and Grocery for seven years, Harold is now retired and making and selling his yard art.
“We do Christmas scenery, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July, Easter,” Harold said. “It’s more seasonal yard art than anything. Our two main seasons are Christmas and Easter.”
Some of their yard art includes firecrackers for the Fourth of July and a nativity scene they sold this past Christmas for about $700.
“We made Jesus and a Good Shepherd one year,” Betty said. “We gave them to the Lutheran Church.”
Even though they are busiest around Christmas and Easter, the two made an 8-foot Headless Horseman cutout one year for Halloween.
“That horseman was gorgeous,” Betty said. “The horse looked so real.”
Not only do the two make things for the different seasons but also for people in different places.
“We sell to people in Corpus, Brownsville, San Antonio and San Marcos,” Harold said. “People would see it and make calls to order some. Some of our stuff is as far up as Illinois.”
Betty said the painting usually took about three days.
“People like (our work) because it’s more life-like and not so ‘blah’,” Harold said. “We put so many details in it to make it look real. We can’t just slap paint on it.”
Though they have different projects for the holidays, their most common pieces of work are the small eagle cutouts that hang on doors. The smaller versions might not have “Proud American” painted on them, but they are just as patriotic as the much larger superhero standing in front of their home.
