Duane Backen with his display of whirl y-gigs at the Toledo Farmers Market on Friday evenings on the Tama County?Courthouse Square in downtown Toledo. Duane handcrafts the outdoor yard display items by hand. Chronicle/John Speer

Duane Backen says he built one a while back for his uncle, Bob Backen, who was a beekeeper. It blossomed until now, as Duane. Tama, features his “whirly-gigs” each Friday night at the Toledo Farmers Market on the Tama County Courthouse Square.

He admits this crafting effort takes a lot of time in his retirement when one whirl y-gig can take 12 hours from start to finish.

He has themes available ranging from a caricature of a South Tama Trojan football player to birds, farm implements and more. Most are priced in the $30 range. Divide that by 12 hours and his work has to be something he really enjoys.

Duane is retired from Fisher-Emerson, Marshalltown.

He has served as director of the Tama Ambulance service and is currently the assistant director.

He also serves as a member of the Tama County Board of Health among other duties.