Toymaker crafts wooden treasures for Children's Medical Center

In a storage room at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, a row of toy trucks await their young drivers. Tiny tables and chairs, painted in an array of colorful shapes, are ready for the hospital’s smaller patients. These pint-sized wooden creations — a gift from one of the Flathead’s most prolific toymakers — are destined for the second floor of the new Montana Children’s Medical Center, due to open next spring. And while these old-school gifts may not seem at home in a facility bedecked with the latest technology in design and pediatric care, they’ll play an important role for kids at the hospital by providing a fun and imaginative diversion from the seriousness of their conditions.