ROANOKE, Va. – Trading in riches for the simpler things in life after a traumatic car accident ten years ago, business owner David Hendren says he divorced himself from money and he now lives life on the road.
You may know him as “The Wreath Guy,” known for turning trash into treasure.
Dave Hendren makes wreathes like he lives his life, going with the flow and seeing the beauty in the simple things.
“I used to have retail stores and employees to babysit and I just didn’t want to anymore," said Hendren. "I divorced myself from all of it. I just wanted to travel, I just want to be a free weed. I find work where I go.”
Life on the road ultimately brings him to Roanoke at the beginning of November every year.
“It is really exciting every year when I come back, when I have someone say, ‘It just wouldn’t be Christmas without a wreath from “The Wreath Guy,"' just, I don’t know, it makes me feel really good,” said Hendren.
He earned his name as “The Wreath Guy” a decade ago while backpacking through southeast roanoke.
“I stopped into a local pharmacy and they had this little Christmas wreath ... with a couple of pine cones and little berries on it for $20," said Hendren. "I thought that was a little high. I got my candy bar and a soda, and saw two women in line with these wreaths. I was like, ‘I can do that.’”
He scours the woods and collects unwanted yard trimmings, literally turning trash to treasure.
“I have several neighbors where I see a color that I want ... and I have to have that color, and if there is nothing else around, I just walk up and knock on someone’s door and ask, ‘How attached are you to the top of your bush?’”
It’s truly an art.
“I enjoy it,” said Hendren. “I don’t know where it came from. I guess out of necessity.”
Each year, he sells around 500 handmade wreaths.
“Maybe it was my attitude, maybe it was something spiritual I was putting into them, but it was just amazing -- they sell out in an hour," said Hendren.
Many go to repeat customers who’ve made a visit to “The Wreath Guy” a holiday tradition.
“I was just very very grateful," said Hendren. "I’ll always be grateful to the people of Roanoke.”
You can contact The Wreath Guy at 828-641-1940 and texting works best.