My dad, Nevell Maidon, had a passion for building things. He grew up on a farm where he and my granddad constructed everything except the houses. They made all the shelters, barns and animal houses themselves. In the 60s, dad began doing some HVAC work for a contractor in Selma. He quit farming in 1969 and became a full-time HVAC worker for others. In the late 70s, he and a friend started their own HVAC business, B&M Repairs.

I joined my dad in the HVAC business in 1983, after working at Sears, FCX and Merita Bread. We worked together until 1999, when dad was 72 and I wanted a job with a retirement package. I became a building inspector for Johnston County and dad retired completely.

My grandmother used to live in a small house behind mom and dad's until she had to move to a nursing home because of blindness and other health issues. Dad converted the living room of her house into a small woodworking shop. He created all kinds of small items in the shop. He gave some outdoor standup cutouts to family members and friends, and also sold many of them over the years. Dad also made lighthouses and gave them to us kids. He sold some of them to people who saw his creations in the yard and stopped by to buy them. There will be more on the lighthouses in a later post. He enjoyed making his birds: small whirly-gigs mounted on a post that spun their wings when the wind blew.

I recorded the video shown below in 2017 at his house, shortly after he had a stroke and was moved to a nursing home. He stayed there until he passed away shortly after his 92nd birthday in 2018.

This article is being posted on December 1, 2023, which would be Daddy's 97th birthday. Happy Birthday in Heaven Daddy. Love you and miss you.

Daddy's Birds