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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1981-02-18, Page 15,n u name it - Jack MRerbeek can make it BY JOANNE BUCHANAN Jack Moerbeek of Goderich is a magician with wood. He can make something out of practically nothing. "You name it, give me the blueprint and I can make it," he says. Laying truth to this claim is a basement workshop full of wooden bowls, lamps, tables, ash tray stands, candle holders and crib boards. He even has a wooden scale model of the CN tower which lights up. One gets. the feeling that there isn't anything Jack couldn't build if he put his mind to it. Since his retirement from Champion in October of last year, Jack has had even more time to devote to his craft. During his years of working at Champion and before that, 21 years of farming at She pardton, Jack and his wife Rose built four houses in their spare time. "I did the laying; out and Rose , did the nailing," says Jack. "It took us three months, maybe four to completely finish one house." Jack and Rose built the house they live in now as well as the one next door to them. The other two they have to their credit are located in the country. You might say Jack and Rose are real partners. After Jack sands down whatever he has built, Rose polishes and refinishes it. She also glues the various pieces of wood together when required and even does some wiring. Rose says. that gluing is the worst•work and that refinishing is the most time- consuming. One thing she has discovered however, is that themore rotten looking the wood, the more beautiful' the grain comes out when it is polished. Jack gets most of his wood from friends andsplitsit himself.. "I must have lots Of friends because they keep me well supplied," he says. He mostly receives pieces and ends of Jack Moerbeekhas built three CN towers to scale out of wood and his son has wired them so that they Tight up. One gets the feeling that there isn't anything Jack can't build (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) wainut, maple, cherry, ash and mahogany. Some of the items he con- structs are made of two or even three different types, of wood This results in very distinctive patterns and grains. n Despite the number of items Jack ca churn oeof his workshop at any one time, he is almost never overstocked. Hose donates some of the items to church bazaars and the rest is given away to friends and relatives as Christmas, bir- tMa"r end wedding Gifts. Sometimes the Moerbeeks just feel generous and they calculate that they have given at least 300 different items away. "We have so many nice friends and relatives," explains Jack. Jack's handiwork really gets around It" now adorns homes in Toronto, Ottawa, British Columbia and even California where his brother lives. The more challenging something is to make, the more fun Jack has making it. Woodworking is just something he picked up as a boy, he says. It helped being poor, he explains. Hiring someone to build something for you was just too expensive so you learned to build it yourself. Jack and Rose Moerbeek display a few of the many items they have produced out of wood recently. They range from ashtray stands the. SIGNAL 133 YEAR -7 andbowls to lamps and crib boards. Over the years, the Moerbeeks have also built four houses. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan) WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 18,1981 STA SECOND SECTION o says barnyards aren't beautiful? r - Even a broken old barn window can create an Interesting image. ( Photo by Cath WoodeM A walk around the barnyard of the Joe O'Brien farm outside of Goderich producesome rather interesting photographs and the discovery of a curious horse named Balliby. hoto by Cath Wooden) "Watcha got there?" Balliby seems to ask as he peers in- quisitively into the camera. (Photo by Cath Wooden) Barnyards are beautiful creations when seen through the eye of a camera. (Photo by Cath Wooden)