Creator of Doll Houses Enlivens His Hobby by Occasionally Making a Western Saloon

Ray Wohrman, 83, of Orange is hardly the kind of fellow you would expect to be building saloons and bordellos, but he does. In fact he can put together about a dozen a week, although the pay isn’t great.

“I figure I make about 35 cents an hour,” said Wohrman, who also builds windmills, small wishing wells from pebbles in his backyard, churches that serve as planters, doll houses and custom-made furniture for them.

“The amount of time I spend building them and the cost of the wood doesn’t leave much left for me,” he said. “But all I really look for is to make my expenses. Well, maybe a little profit too.”

But money isn’t Wohrman’s game. “These doll houses are meant for children to use, not just to look at,” he said. “Each house is vacant except for a rock fireplace so that lets children use their imagination on how to furnish and play with it.”

He said adults sometimes buy one for themselves.

Many times he gives away the houses and other items he makes to friends as well as to charitable groups to sell or auction as fund-raisers. The houses sell anywhere from $39 up at arts and crafts fairs including the one held the second Friday of each month at the Senior Citizens Community Center in Orange.

“This is a just a hobby for me,” said the one-time Orange grocery store owner who earlier worked 20 years for Ford as an auto inspector. During those years he also dabbled in customized furniture finishing, the moonlighting job that gave him the know-how to pass time productively during his retirement years.

“Most of my time is spent making these wooden items,” Wohrman said, “and I don’t make two of a kind of anything, and what I make is well constructed.” His workshop is attached to his double-wide mobile home.

His only power tools are an electric burning knife to personalize everything he makes and an electric scroll saw to cut the wood, most of it roof shingles and plywood. “Personalizing everything really makes a difference when people come looking to buy something,” he said.

Wohrman said it’s a good gimmick to put the buyer’s name on the saloon front and a female friend’s name on the upstairs house of ill repute. “People really get a kick out of that,” he said, smiling.

Kevin C. Pegan, 30, an Irvine attorney, owns the title of Garden Grove Birthday Baby, a revelation he learned of when he was 10 years old. “The city checked all the birth records,” said Pegan, an Irvine attorney, “and I was the only baby born that day (June 18, 1956),” the day that Garden Grove incorporated as a city with 3,500 residents. Now it has 129,000.

He said having that name designation has its benefits, noting that during the Strawberry Festival “I got to ride a float that went down the same street I used to walk to school.” Tomorrow he will participate in the city’s 30th birthday celebration.

So with all that city pride, what’s he doing living in Laguna Hills?

“I’m a victim of the Yuppie migration,” he admits.”

Talk about beating the numbers. Daniel Ponce, 17, of Anaheim, won $600 with his Americanism slogan “Invest in Freedom--the Dividends are Priceless.”

His was one of 8,412 entries in the Americanism Educational League slogan contest.

The menu hasn’t changed for 26 years. As a matter of fact, when the plates are placed on the lace tablecloth with china, silver and a centerpiece, the food will be rock hard because the food will be rocks.

“It’s a great idea for a diet,” joshed Christeen Brunet, spokeswoman for the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa where the “Banquet of Rocks” will be served July 11-20, the first time the 26-year-old traveling exhibit will be shown in Orange County.

The display, part of the gem and mineral show, will include rocks that look like roast beef, a stack of pancakes, dish of ice cream, coffee, milk, sugar, box of candy and a slice of lemon pie. Dinosaur bones that look like chops will also be shown.

“It will look tempting,” said Brunet, “but taking a taste may mean a trip to the dentist.” For the hardy, however, toothpicks from petrified wood will be provided.

Ann Fordiani, 38, and husband, William Fordiani, 49, competed in their age categories at the recent Rosarito Beach Triathlon with 750 other part-time athletes. She took first place and he finished out of the money.

“It feels great to win.” she said, “but we don’t compete against each other.”

Uh-huh.

Acknowledgments--Myldred Jones, 77, of Los Alamitos, founder of Casa Youth Shelter who is also credited with starting the first adolescent hot line which led to an international movement, presented California Law Auxiliary’s award for outstanding contributions to the community.