Polk County News
2A Polk County Itemizer-Observer • March 16, 2016
Have you seen this pirate downtown?
Toymaker’s ‘treasure hunts’ an attempt to increase traffic on Main Street Independence
By Emily Mentzer
The Itemizer-Observer
INDEPENDENCE — Thar
be pirates in downtown In-
dependence, matey, and if
you find one, you could get
access to Capt. Billy’s treas-
ure chest.
Ron “Dutch” Smith, man-
ager of 2EZ Café, is the clue
master for the game, said
Billy Wild, toymaker.
“Last time, he set his pi-
rate down at Ladies of Liber-
ty’s shop,” Wild, 70, said. “I
walked past it a number of
times and didn’t even see it.”
About five shops in down-
town participate in his pi-
rate hunt, including 2EZ and
Ovenbird.
At those shops, people
can find out about the game
and get the first clue, Wild
said.
“If you find the pirate, you
open the chest,” he said. “On
the lid is the phone number
for Capt. Billy and you have
to tell me the name of the
pirate.”
The last one took six
weeks to find, Wild said, and
then the person who called
him tried to tell him the pi-
rate was a captain.
“It’s not a captain, it’s a pi-
rate,” Wild said. Being Capt.
Billy himself, all the other
pirates would be starting a
mutiny if they were captains
as well.
Wild has lived in Inde-
pendence since 2005, and
said he loves all the shops in
downtown. This pirate treas-
ure hunt is his contribution
to economic development.
“I’m a cheerleader for
downtown Independence,”
he said. “And, I am the little
ol’ toymaker.”
Having a game to play will
help drive people to down-
town and get them to ex-
plore the shops there, Wild
said.
But his antics don’t stop
there. Wild plants little toys
all over Independence — in
the parks, in trees, on
benches — to brighten the
day of whoever finds them.
At Christmastime, Wild
EMILY MENTZER/Itemizer-Observer
Capt. Billy Wild makes toys of all shapes, whittling down pieces of wood he receives or re-using scraps of cloth and wood.
was on his way to breakfast
and coffee at the Golden
Horse Café when he left a
toy car wrapped in a toilet
paper tube — like a little
burrito — on a bench near
the Arena Sports Bar and
Grill. On his way back, it was
gone.
He reached in his bag to
replace it with another when
a man in his 30s stopped
him.
“He says, ‘you’re the one
leaving these toys out. I took
the one you left earlier.
There was a Hot Wheels car
in there that was exactly like
the one I had when I was 7
years old,’” Wild recalled. “It
was just a few days before
Christmas. I said, ‘I’m happy
you’re happy, because that’s
what my purpose is.’”
It wasn’t always like that.
Wild went through some
tough times and battled
with being chronically un-
happy and in pain from dia-
betic neuropathy.
EMILY MENTZER/ Itemizer-Observer
This pirate was found hiding in town among the merchandise at a shop. If you find a
pirate, pay close attention to his title — Capt. Billy the Toymaker doesn’t like mutiny.
Smith could see his friend
struggling and suggested he
find something to make
himself happy.
Wild said he’s been build-
ing models and whittling
toys since he was a young
boy.
“One of the things that
makes me happy is making
toys,” he said. “You give me a
piece of wood and I get kind
of carried away.”
Wild has memories of his
grandfather sitting on the
front porch, whittling away
at a black walnut stick,
telling cowboy stories about
living in Oklahoma.
“I’ve always wanted to be
a cowboy,” he said.
While sitting at a coffee
shop in downtown Inde-
pendence, Wild said he’d
whittle something into a toy
and give it to passing chil-
dren.
He has been known to put
boats by the Independence
fountain or tuck toys in
downtown trees.
“People aren’t finding
them,” Wild said about the
toys in trees. “I keep check-
ing them like a squirrel to
see if my stash is still there.
When I glue (the packag-
ing) together, they look like
a burrito. You walk by and
there’s this thing in the
tree. Nobody’s taking them.
I’m still leaving them in
trees.”
Wild continues to work
on pirates, cowboys, wagons
and other toys to leave for
people to discover or to do-
nate to good causes. He is
working on some donations
for the Relay for Life of Polk
County.