Laboring with love
When a group of local scroll saw enthusiasts gathered in Sarver on Thursday, it looked like a typical Christmas party, with smiling faces, festive outfits and even some Santa hats thrown in.
Then the toys started rolling in — boxes and boxes of beautiful, handmade wooden toys of all kinds. That's when this group of dedicated woodworkers starts to look more and more like Santa's elves personified.
Members of the Blazin' Blades Scrollers of Western Pennsylvania used their workshops to craft nearly 200 toys to the Toys for Tots program, sponsored by the U.S. Marine Corps.
Calling their efforts Kars for Kids, this is the second year club members have put their skill and love of woodworking to use for the Toys for Tots program.
The idea of making toys for children in need was presented to club members in September 2006, and the craftsmen immediately set to work. Just two months later, as members brought their finished work to the club's December meeting, it was apparent how much fun making toys can be, as the toys began to fill and overflow a large table.
"I was expecting to get maybe 50," said Tom Justham of Washington Township, Westmoreland County. "But we ended up with 94."
Justham organizes the club's efforts and serves as a contact with the Marine Corps. The toy donations are divided between the Bantam Marine Detachment in Butler and a Marine detachment in Latrobe. A donation also was made by Davison's Restaurant in Sarver, where the club meets each month.
In his "Santa's workshop" in Ford City, Richard Myers made 10 trucks that each carry three smaller wooden cars. The cars are cleverly shaped to fit together like a puzzle. He also made a dozen combination doll cradle and rockers.
"Actually, they don't take a long time to build," said Myers, who said his assembly line construction style moves the process along quickly.
"I figure as long as I'm going to cut, I cut out 10 or 20 at a time. The only thing that takes a while is when I put everything together and glue it. Then when you set them up and paint them, you have to wait for the paint to dry.
"There are times when I'll have three or four projects going at the same time. I assume the other guys do the same thing, not just me," he said.
A wide variety of toys were constructed this year from cars and trucks to push-along ducks on wheels with feet that slap the ground. One toy features a monkey that climbs when two strings are pulled."It's really unique, all the different sizes and shapes," said Com. John Moore of the Butler detachment. "These people make some pretty intricate stuff."He noted that the club's donations help in the Marine's efforts to provide Christmas gifts for about 1,800 children in Butler, Armstrong and Venango counties.Justam said that the club's one-of-a-kind toys contain only non-toxic, lead-free paints and finishes, alluding to recent safety concerns over paints on imported toys."That's been a nightmare for us," Moore said of the numerous recalls. "It seems like every night, there's another one." Moore noted the Toys for Tots program does not distribute any recalled toys.Christmas is not the only time these local elves are busy making toys. In addition, Myers said the club also donates toys to children in the Dominican Republic through a local church mission program.Myers said his sister, Charlotte Clowser, asked him if members could build toys for an annual mission trip from her church, Dayton United Methodist Church in Armstrong County. The scrollers responded with 60 to 70 toys for a March trip this year and will also be sending toys in February 2008."It's a labor of love," Justham said. "You get on the saw and you forget the world."It's a good way for the club members to use their time and talents to reach out in the community, according to Myers."I told people ... make toys, whatever they have time to do. If you know of a church or group that is involved with children and they need toys or something, we'll help them out. The offer is there. Let us know, and we'll come up with the toys."The Blazin' Blades Scrollers of Western Pennsylvania meets on the first Thursday of each month at Davison's Restaurant, Sarver. The club is an official chapter of the national organization, Scrollers of the World.Officers are Ernie Lang of Cabot, president; Dick DeFelice of Freeport, vice president; Nancy Myers of Ford City, secretary; and Jackie DeFelice of Freeport, treasurer.
