ARVADA, Colo. (KDVR) — All year long, garages and wood workshops around Colorado have been buzzing with the sounds of bandsaws.
Volunteer woodworkers from the Colorado Woodworkers Guild have spent months working to fill an ambitious Christmas list: creating 3,000 wooden toys, to be handmade and delivered to hospitals, specialty schools and non-profits for kids who deserve a one-of-a-kind gift you can’t buy in a store.
“It’s unique, for one thing. You know, it’s not mass produced and stamped out on a machine,” said Kenneth Oliver, toy build coordinator for the group’s Colorado Springs chapter.
“Every one of these toys have been built by hand, by really talented artisans,” said Bill Bixby, president of the guild.
What most people might disregard as scrap wood, guild member Dennis Edmonds sees as Christmas gold.
“It takes 50 to 80 years to grow a hardwood tree. So we don’t want to waste any of it,” Edmonds said. From the smallest chunks of wood, Edmonds and the dozens of other volunteer woodworkers can craft cars, kinetic toys, mini-helicopters and more.
Working with the International Brotherhood of Bearded Santas and the Colorado Decorative Artists organizations.
“When the idea from the woodworkers came to us, we all jumped on it,” said Nan Awhll, a volunteer with the Colorado Decorative Artists group who helped with this year’s project.
“We’ve distributed them to places for battered women and things like that. And these women and the kids would be there with the shirts on their back. And these toys were the only thing they were going to get,” added Charlie Kuechenmeister, one of the volunteer woodworkers.
“This is very close to my heart, because I have a disabled son, and when he was little we received lots of these toys from Children’s Hospital, and this is my way to pay back,” said Jeff Soolari, who headed up the project.
They’re all volunteers. The only payment they get?
“Putting a smile on children’s faces,” Soolari said.
And there were plenty of smiles last week, when Santa handed out the handmade toys to children at Anchor Center for Blind Children.
“These toys that are made of wood have a longevity that toys made out of plastic these days do not have,” said Michael Barla, office manager.
Seeing the reactions on the faces of the kids who received the toys made all those hours in the workshop worth it.
“Very rewarding to see all of the efforts from all of our guild members. It’s pretty tremendous. Very rewarding. Very validating,” Bixby said.
To learn more about volunteering with the Colorado Woodworkers Guild, or to donate to their Christmas toy project, visit their website.