John Birdeno hand carves duck decoys in his shop at Pier 39 in Astoria.

But although the 72-year-old has only had his shop for the last year and a half, the former resident of Kansas learned from the best the best in Clatsop County which Birdeno calls home.

I started while I was still in Kansas, Birdeno said. Then I continued carving some while I was in Madras and now I found permanent housing here in the Astoria-Warrenton area, and I set up a shop here. I have here with me some of the carvers from the past of the Astoria area.

His cozy shop smells of cedar and the shelves and walls are tactfully decorated with memorabilia an 1800s era muzzle loader shot gun, a classic western film actors cowboy hat, a photo of a native american duck decoy.

Before he began making decoys which including a new pattern can cost $350 Birdeno was a truck driver. He became a carver to keep his mind and hands sharp in retirement and learned from the Bergman family.

Charles Bergman was the grandfather of Chuck Bergman who was a former Astoria neighbor. The Bergmans got Birdeno interested in the art.

Bergman is a four-generation family of carving. Grandpa Bergman started back at the turn of the century, about 1900, he said. A framed photo of a swan decoy is hung on the wall. The swan was done probably in 1918 because in 1918 they outlawed swan hunting and market hunting. There, at that point, he having done about a dozen swans, Grandma Bergman chopped up 10 of them into kindling for the fire.

Two of the swans were kept in the family. Steven Spielberg, while in Astoria filming The Goonies, reportedly bought one for $3,000.

Spielberg came up to him and talked to him about the two swan decoys. He was interested in buying a whole bunch of other ones, and Chuck pretty much let it be known that he wasnt interested in selling that and he wouldnt take $300 for it, Birdeno said.

Spielberg offered 10 times that and it was sold.

The other one, the last, which was sold by another family member for $3,500, was recently sold at an auction back east for $64,000.

Birdeno said it could have been Spielbergs swan at the auction, but the man doubts it. He was inspired by the Bergmans, and Birdenos uncle who also carved. So he began making duck decoys of his own, a faux animal that is placed in an area monitored by hunters. When the living ducks see the decoy, they are attracted to it, thinking it is a safe place to be.

Just about the time theyve got their feet in the water, the duck hunter raises up and shoots em, Birdeno said. This has been going on since the native Americans.

He hopes his decoys and the tradition will live on.

Chelsea Gorrow