Photos by Alex Meyer Steve Conlon, owner of ThistleDew Farm’s Gift Shop in Proctor, stands with a sock monkey, which is one of the many toys at his shop. The shop features wooden folk toys made from trees on the 275 acres of land he owns.

PROCTOR — Whimmydiddles, spindle tops, marble chutes and an exploding outhouse are some of the items that fill the walls and shelves of an elementary school turned-gift shop in northern Wetzel County.

“There’s a creative fascination with these,” Steve Conlon said of the wooden folk toys he makes and sells at ThistleDew Farm’s Gift Shop. “The idea here is to be interesting, to be fascinating.”

The shop, 7901 Proctor Creek Road, offers a variety of locally-made gifts for the holiday season and year-round. The property is also home to a honey farm that Conlon, a beekeeper since the 1970s, runs with his family.

Conlon moved to West Virginia in 1974 from Philadelphia, where he was born and raised.

He and his wife, Ellie, aimed to do agricultural work and eventually settled on beekeeping.

“It seemed to be sustainable, seemed to be unique, seemed to be fascinating,” Conlon said. “And it seemed to fit this area.”

In 1989, Conlon bought the property, the site of a former elementary school, and in 2001, he purchased a toy company, Mountain Craft Shop. That company was owned by the late Dick Schnacke, a well-known inventor of wooden folk toys, and today Conlon keeps his creations alive by making and selling those toys.

“We are in the manufacturing business basically, competing with electronics and everything else,” Conlon said. “Parents walk through here and say ‘these are the kinds of toys kids should be playing with.'”

Many of the toys use simple engineering tricks, such as a wooden bear that “climbs” up a string when they toy is moved, or a tiny outhouse that “explodes” using a mouse trap and a coin. The shop features other items for kids to enjoy, too: sock monkeys, dolls and marbles made at a factory in nearby Paden City.

What’s more, all of the wooden toys at ThistleDew come from trees in the 275 acres of land that Conlon and his family own.

“There’s no shortage of wood,” Conlon said. “What’s challenging is to put it together and make money off of it.”

In addition, the shop features honeys, beeswax, honey mustard and other honey products made at the property. Conlon said those who stop by the shop say visiting is a fun experience.

“People like to spend an hour, bring their family out here for something to do,” he said. “They just like just seeing what’s going on and enjoying the homey atmosphere of it. We think of ourselves as Wetzel County’s only theme park.”