Artist Pat Acton pictured on Wednesday, March 29, in Gladbrook at the Matchstick Marvels Tourist Center beside his new model which takes inspiration from the 1985 film Back to the Future. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON

GLADBROOK-Matchstick Marvels Tourist Center opened for the season on April Fool’s Day last weekend and while the new model on display just inside the entrance is certainly no joke, it is a throwback to another time – “Back to the Future.” In matchstick form.

Matchstick artist Pat Acton spent much of this past winter working on his new model which features the Courthouse Square from the 1985 film “Back to the Future” including the Clock Tower building, the Texaco service station, Doc Brown’s DeLorean time machine, the tree which sustains a lightning strike during the film’s climax, and much more.

While the model – which takes up a space roughly equal to a standard pool table – is not finished quite yet, it is still a sight to behold like all of Acton’s pieces.

This particular model was commissioned by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! and upon completion sometime next winter, Acton said it will be moved to one of the entity’s many museums.

Not only is there a new model to look at this season at the Center located in downtown Gladbrook, Acton – ever the artist – has created a new sculpting technique, a technique that he employed while building the film’s iconic tree.

The Back to the Future diorama on display at Matchstick Marvels in Gladbrook. The model remains a work in progress that will be completed by the spring of 2024. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON

“It’s a trade secret – don’t be asking me to divulge my secrets!” Acton joked last Wednesday ahead of the Center’s opening day when asked to explain how the incredible tree was made.

Acton last ordered matchsticks for his unique pastime back in 2017, he said on Wednesday, when the “last matchstick manufacturer in the U.S. closed.” He placed an order at that time for five million sticks – he has since used roughly half.

As his supply of matchsticks dwindles down, what does that mean for Acton and his artistry which he’s poured countless hours into over the last four decades?

Will he soon – in the words of Back to the Future’s Biff – “make like a tree and get outta here”?

[“When the last matchstick is gone], then I’m going to officially retire,” Acton said. “I’m ready to take a little hiatus.”

Close-up of the tree from Pat Acton’s new Back to the Future model currently on display at the Matchstick Marvels Tourist Center in Gladbrook. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON

While he could conceivably order matchsticks from a foreign supplier, he would have to order something close to a metric ton of matchsticks.

“I don’t need a metric ton at this stage of my life,” Acton said with a laugh.

All joking aside though, Acton shared that with grandchildren now in his life, he has a lot of other adventures waiting for him.

But until such time that the matchsticks run out, Acton assured he will continue to stack and glue and create away in his home shop in Gladbrook like always for both Ripley’s museums and the Matchstick Marvels Tourist Center.

So don’t be a square like Marty (sorry, that’s another Back to the Future joke), be sure to visit Matchstick Marvels this season in downtown Gladbrook located at 319 Second Street on the corner.

Artist Pat Acton pictured on March 29 beside the tree for which he created a new sculpting technique as part of his Back to the Future model on display now at Gladbrook’s Matchstick Marvels Tourist Center. PHOTO BY SOREN M. PETERSON

The Center is open now through November 30, seven days a week – closed Easter and Thanksgiving – from 1-5 p.m.

Admission is $5 for adults, $3 for children aged 5-12, and free for those under age 5.

For more information visit https://www.matchstickmarvels.com