Student elves craft toys for Christmas

It wasn't quite the North Pole, but for a few weeks, the wood shop at Glacier High School looked very much like Santa's workshop.

Four periods a day, the shop echoed with the sounds of saws and sanders as students transformed pieces of wood into sturdy wooden cars. Soon those cars will appear under Christmas trees or in stockings across the valley as part of the local Toys for Tots project.

The U.S. Marine Corps Reserve's Toys for Tots project collects and distributes new toys to needy children every Christmas. While Glacier shop teacher Andy Fors has long been familiar with the program, this is the first year his classes have taken part in it.

Fors said Bob Redinger, who often makes wooden toys for the project, first gave him the idea of getting students involved. Fors and fellow teachers Dennis Latimer and Gordon Sheldon decided making cars for Toys for Tots would be an ideal project for their Woods 1 classes.

An introductory class, Woods 1 contains mostly freshmen, but there are some older students in the four sections as well, Fors said. Each section has about 25 students, all of whom were required to make a car for Toys for Tots.

"The nice thing about it is I thought the kids really bought into it well," Fors said. "They were very eager that they [could] make a project they [could] give to someone else."

Before the students began working on the cars, they covered tool safety. This was many students' first time using the band saw and sanders, Fors said.

"It basically was the first project they did," he said.

The students used pine donated by Plum Creek Timber Co. to make the cars, each of which is about 8 inches long and 4 or 5 inches tall. Students chose one of four basic designs and coated their cars with a clear wood finish.

Even though it was the first time many students had worked with wood, the cars turned out beautifully, Fors said.

"Ninety-five percent of them turned out very good," he said. "I think just the fact that they knew they were giving it to someone else, they took a little more time and care into making sure they did a good project."

Carey Dill, the Flathead Toys for Tots coordinator, said he is grateful for the students' generosity.

"We really appreciate them going to all the work to do the toys for the kids," he said. "We can't thank them enough."

Dill took over as the Toys for Tots coordinator this year after helping longtime volunteers John and Lou Olsen. His first year running the show has been a learning experience, Dill said - and with less than two weeks until Christmas, he is starting to get nervous.

"The donation boxes are starting out slow," he said. "We're really needing donations."

There are about 60 Toys for Tots drop boxes located at schools and businesses across the valley. Donors also may take toys to the local Toys for Tots headquarters, the old Kelly Main Street Furniture building, 11 S. Main St., Kalispell.

A complete list of drop sites is available at www.toysfortots.org

The deadline to donate toys is Dec. 21. Dill and other volunteers will deliver the toys Dec. 20 and 21.

The toys go to kids whose families are experiencing difficult financial times and who might otherwise miss out on some of the magic of Christmas, Dill said.

"A lot of them are out of work or single moms," he said. "They give us their names and phone numbers and we put a box together for them."

Earlier this month, there were about 300 families on the list. Last year, Toys for Tots delivered presents to more than 500 families - a number Dill expects to meet again this year.

"There are a lot of new people signing up who didn't know anything about it," he said. "Unless we get a really big crush, there will be between 500 and 600 families this year."

That means about 20 percent of the families on the list will receive a Glacier High car.

"You thank so many people, it's hard to come up with words sometimes," Dill said. "We really appreciate the effort they put into it."

It's an effort Fors hopes to repeat with future classes.

"I would love to see it continue," he said. "It's so easy for us to make things Toys for Tots can use. Hopefully in the future, we will expand this.

"The kids really enjoy it, and I like having them do it."

For additional information about Toys for Tots, call Dill at 257-1077 or visit www.toysfortots.org

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com