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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 1989-12-13, Page 5THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1989. PAGE 5. ‘Wooden ’ this be nice Jo and Bill Landon have had many requests for custom made toy barns to be given as Christmas gifts this year. Bill is the master craftsmen and designs and cuts out all his Taking the load off Santa ’s sleigh creations. Jo gives the toys ther lustrous finish by sanding, varnishing and painting them. Couple carves wooden toys for Christmas BY LISA BOONSTOPPEL At this time of year, one can just imagine the hubbub of activity at Santa’s workshop as the elves make the toys asked for by child­ ren. But one doesn’t have to go to the North Pole to see busy toymak­ ers at work. Just take an amble down McConnell Street in Blyth where you’ll find Bill and Joe Landon busy filling orders with their original toys and crafts. Bill and Jo have received about 25 orders for their hand-crafted toys and crafts and entering their home is like visiting Santa’s work­ shop. In the corner is a statuesque corner cabinet upon which gleam­ ing clocks tick away to the assort­ ment of toy trucks, trains, piggy banks, barns, fences, hall trees, chests, cradles and the most strik­ ing of all, the rocking horses. All these hand-crafted pieces are the result of skilled workmanship that starts in the work-shed out back. Here, Bill has the required tools and space to make his original designs. Yet, he has no formal training in woodworking or carpen­ try. “I have never had a lesson. What happens is, someone brings me a picture and we make it,” said Bill. has real talent. ‘‘He just takes a piece of wood and draws on it whatever he wants,” said his partner of the business. Jo is responsible for much of the sand­ ing of the toys as well as all the finishing work which requires staining, varnishing and some­ times painting the wood. Jo thinks that maybe his innate talent for the work may come from his father who was a skilled finisher of wood and capable of painstaking and intricate woodwork. Bill re­ members working with his father when he was a boy in John Diefenbaker’s house in Prince Al­ bert, Saskatchewan where his dad was doing the interior wood work. ‘‘I was the guy who ran for the tools and I said I’d never be a carpenter Crafty carvers Under Bill and Jo’s hands the fine features of these rocking horse heads begin to come to life. At left, the finished rocking horse and at the right stands the sleigh that Bill designed to hold the gifts. if I had to do that,” he mirthfully recalls. Yet, he admits that he must have liked something about working with wood because he has been indulging in this hobby for a while. Years ago, Bill owned four craft stores - one in Seaforth and three in London where he sold his home­ made crafts. Then, he moved to Wingham where he worked as an orderly at the Wingham hospital and his work was always popular with his fellow staff. Here he met Jo and the couple were married and decided to reside in Blyth. Yet, his work didn’t catch on with local residents until after the Thresher Reunion of that year simply be­ cause nobody really knew what Bill was capable of. But once people saw his craft table at the Reunion, the orders started coming in. Bill has become a regular exhibi­ tor at the Thresher’s Reunion ever since and it is one of the few shows he displays his work at. ‘‘I used to go to about 30 shows a year as far away as London,” he said. The first item Bill sold in Blyth was a rocking horse and he admits that the horses and the barns he makes are his downfall. ‘‘I just love making them”. That fact is appar­ ent by his dedication to making the horses as realistic as possible. In his workshop, Bill has photos of horses hanging up which he uses to compare and create to his own wooden rocking horses. ‘‘One time I was at a show and two little girls came up and hugged the rocking horses,” recalls Bill, ‘‘and 1 knew that I had created something that was real for those girls.” And the prices aren’t bad. Although he can’t compare with Sears products, it’s also true that Sears doesn’t use pure wood (they use veneer core materials) while Bill makes his pieces in any kind of wood the customers ask for. *‘rlhe reason my prices aren’t as high is because I don’t think my stuff is as good as stuff you can get else­ where,” said Bill. But the orders he gets in testify to the fact that most people think the pair’s work is good. Bill says they can make just about anything in two weeks and he usually fills his orders in two weeks because he doesn’t like to get behind. Al­ though Bill and Jo do have some wood craft available on the spot to buy, they don’t make a lot of pieces in advance because they simply can’t afford to work that way. And Bill and Jo say they like the size of their hobby the way it is right now. ‘‘We like doing all the work ourselves. We don’t want to have to get someone else in to do the cutting out or sanding,” said Bill. ‘‘We are just nice now, we don’t want to get anv bigger.”