Lakeland Entrepreneur Series- Jon Ahlschwede, Lakeland's Original Entrepreneur -

Jon Ahlschwede is Lakeland’s original entrepreneur. He was born and raised in Lakeland and is an LHS Graduate – Class of 1965.

Jon enjoys things that are crafted from wood. His dad was his role model and was his inspiration for working with wood.

Jon has collected a large supply of exotic woods including swamp white oak, black walnut, mahogany, and maple.

He created a large wooden black walnut sea turtle to hang on the wall out of the exotic wood.

The pieces of the different woods are creatively put together like a jigsaw puzzle. Each piece is hand-cut and created with precision and craftsmanship.

He was then inspired by Florida’s famous Tarpon and created the Black Walnut Tarpon wall hanging.

There are more creative wall hangings of wooden fish, turtles, and Lakeland’s famous swans. Each piece of art is shaped, sanded smooth, and finished with tung oil.