Driving north along Route 28, just outside the village of Old Forge, sits a small blue building, which up until last summer sat lonely and vacant.
Finished Stick Candles
That was until Doug Collum of Syracuse and Old Forge, ignited some life into it and began making his signature product, Stick Candles.
Decorative Wax Entrepreneur Doug Collum
Doug’s Stick Candles are handmade beeswax candles in the shapes of sticks that have been cast from Maple, Cedar, Hickory, Ash, and Bamboo trees.
Doug said the idea was inspired by his mother’s quest to find similar candles she had received as a gift many years prior.
“My mother had been given a pair of stick-shaped candles for some occasion, which she kept for a really long time because she loved them so much. Eventually she did burn them, but she forgot who had given them to her and where they had been purchased,” Collum said.
“So, one year I asked her what she wanted for Christmas, and after she explained her situation to me, I told her that it would be no problem to find them.”
At the time, Doug had been working as a production designer in California, primarily making television commercials and music videos. He felt that if anyone could find them, his crew could.
Meagan Langworthy at Stick Candles
However, after months of trying no one could find anything that looked like a real stick.
“All we were finding were cartoonish versions of sticks—and nothing made out of beeswax,” he said.
After having no luck in finding his mother’s favorite candles, he decided to take the project on himself.
So, a few years ago, Douglas decided to move back to New York from California and start gathering sticks in Old Forge.
“I went out to the woods and got the materials, and cut some branches and started casting them in a variety of materials. I learned a little bit more about materials and then I cast sticks, made changes to them, and did burn testing. Finally I got a whole bunch of candles that worked, and were beautiful,” he said.
Collum, who has been coming to Old Forge his entire life, said he could not think of a better place to start his business.
“I just think it fits really well with this region. These are products of nature—sticks, twigs, branches, beeswax—a true Adirondack product,” he said.
Collum’s Stick Candles are available in ten standard colors, however he is happy to create custom colors and combinations upon request.
Though Collum has had to cease production at the non-winterized Route 28 location for the winter, he plans on re-opening in the spring.
In the meantime he is making the Stick Candles off-premises, and they are available for sale locally at Mountain Greenery. For this weekend only, for the Adirondack Christmas on Main Street event, they can also be viewed at Candyland at the Thendara Town Hall.
More information is available at: stickcandles.com, and on Facebook.
