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Richmond toymaker turns out 30,000 unbreakable goodies for charity By
Jennifer Pinnock
Smiles aren't carved at The Happy Factory, but the wooden toys produced there bring grins to the faces of needy children. Roland Anderson, an 80-year-old Richmond resident, works in his shop approximately 65 to 70 hours per week cutting out wooden toys that he donates to various organizations to help underprivileged and sick children. "It's not work when you enjoy it," said Anderson. Anderson said he follows a detailed process when making the toys. First he goes outside behind his shop and finds two pieces of wood that are the same type and size. Anderson's wood pile holds a combination of types including cherry, maple, oak, ash and hickory, all of which has been donated by a cabinet shop. The two wood pieces are then glued together and put in a press that holds the wood together while the glue dries. Anderson said the press ensures that the toy will be durable and not break apart. "No matter how hard a child plays with these wooden toys they will not break," said Anderson." Anderson takes a pencil and traces an outline of the toy on a piece of wood. The toys he cuts out are mainly cars and include a sports car, a truck, a van, a jeep and a school bus. There is also a wooden elephant that has wheels and large leather ears. "I trace the toys extremely close together so none of the wood goes to waste," said Anderson. The wood is then taken to a bandsaw where Anderson carefully cuts out each toy with a continuous blade that moves rapidly. The toy has now taken shape, but Anderson's work is far from done. Anderson uses a drill press to form windows in each car and drills holes so the wheels can be attached to the toys. The rough edges are sanded down with one of Anderson's many sanders. He slides his finger across the surface to show how smooth the toys become and said sanding is important because the toys need to be safe. At this point, Anderson said his sister, who lives in Richmond, brands the bottom of the toys with The Happy Factory logo. Anderson said the toys are now ready to be painted to make them appealing, although he has painted many cars, members of the community are asked to complete this step of the process. When Anderson began cutting the cars in 1999 he said he had to do a little advertising to let people know the cars were available and needed to be painted. He called a few local organizations and asked for their participation. Now it is Anderson who is getting calls from different groups interested in painting the cars. The Girls and Boys Club, various church groups and Utah State University student organizations have all been involved in the project. Beckie Kimber, historian of United Campus Volunteers of USU, said they planned to paint the cars for a Homecoming Week service project because they thought a large number of students would participate. Kimber picked up a box of 500 cars and said she hopes they paint them all. By 11 a.m approximately 40 students had come to participate and paint as many cars as they could. Dave Miles, vice president of United Campus Volunteers, said the group plans various service projects but with Christmas on the way, the toys will be good for needy children. When groups paint the cars Anderson said he does not give them any specific instructions. He only asks the groups not to paint the bottom of the cars because he does not want the logo to be covered up. He said the cars can be painted whatever color a person wants and can be decorated with stripes, flowers or other designs. The cars come back to the shop after they are painted and Anderson said this is where his wife steps in and does a quality check. Anderson's wife of 58 years, Alice, said she is an artist and when she notices cars that are painted a solid color with no designs she set them aside because she wants to "dress them up." "I don't go through every box and look at every car," she said. "It would take too much time." However, if she said if she sees a box she will pull a few cars out. She said even a racing stripe adds so much to a car, and she demonstrates how easy it is to draw a line with a thick marker. Other than making some of the cars a little more creative, Alice Anderson leaves the wooden toy business to her husband. "He does enough work with the toys for both of us," she said. Roland Anderson said he finishes his job when the painted cars come back to the shop and he attaches the wheels. The wheels are not attached before because the cars are easier to paint without them and it is also assures him the cars will be brought back to The Happy Factory. "No one wants to play with a car that has no wheels," said Roland Anderson. "It's just not fun." Roland Anderson said he doesn't have much problem with people not returning the cars and if a group has them for quite a while he can contact them because each group must sign the cars out before they can take them. He uses a simple, informal check-out procedure when various groups come to get the cars. A red spiral notebook is placed by the door where a person must sign his or her name, the name of the organization and a phone number. Names are crossed off the list when the cars are returned. He said he paints 825 wheels at a time. He places the them on a board and spray paints them black. The wheels are attached with a wooden peg which Roland Anderson said he paints 825 at the same time also. After the toys are complete with wheels he said he counts them and loads them into boxes to be sent where they are needed. The organizations -- which include the Humanitarian Society, the Primary Children's Hospital, the Salvation Army and others -- come to pick up the toys from Roland Anderson's shop. In the past two years, Roland Anderson said he has cut out approximately 30,000 wooden toys. Anderson said he got interested in the business when he read an article in the newspaper about a couple in Cedar City who was making the toys. He contacted them and joined The Happy Factory, which also includes people from Oregon, Texas and Arizona. Although the group is incorporated, each member works separately and voluntarily. Roland Anderson does not get paid for making the wooden toys and pays utility bills and other shop expense himself. He occasionally has to use his own money to buy the wheels for the toys if the group does not have enough funds. He also uses his own tools to make the cars. However, he has owned wood tools for the past 55 to 60 years because of his background in wood working. Roland Anderson started working with wood 60 years ago as a building contractor. For many years he built homes and churches. In 1977 he retired and left the business to his son. Since his retirement, his love of woodworking has grown stronger. Alice Anderson approves of the time her husband spends cutting wood and said he has always been busy. "He has always worked hard," said Alice Anderson. "But, that is his life -- he's a workaholic." Roland Anderson said he never knows exactly where the wooden toys end up, but he has seen the rewards of his work. He has received personal letters expressing appreciation for his work that he said almost make him cry. Also, a videotape was sent to him from Johannesburg, South Africa. The tape showed a missionary from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints demonstrating how to play with a car. Roland Anderson said the man got down on the ground and showed a group of children how to drive a car and the sounds a car makes. "It amazes me," said Roland Anderson. "Kids today have so many toys that they don't know what to do with all of them. These children didn't even know what a toy car was." Kimber said painting the toys is a great opportunity for service. "The cars are still appreciated even if they don't look great," she said. Roland Anderson said when he thinks of the children who are in need of these toys the time he spends in his shop working on the toys is all worthwhile. "Besides, I could never stay in the house all day or I would go crazy,"
he said with a smile. |
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