Handcrafting Happiness for the Holidays

As San Fernando Valley shoppers swarm the malls in search of the hottest holiday toys, a local woodworkers group may hold the most prized possessions in their hands.

The woodworkers’ yuletide treasures are not the coolest video games or slickest silver scooters, but handcrafted logging trucks and doll cradles they hope will bring cheer to needy children.

The wooden toys are the culmination of nearly a yearlong effort by the San Fernando Valley Woodworkers, a group of 40 men and women who share an interest in woodworking and a desire to brighten children’s lives. It marks the eighth year that the club has designed, built and donated toys to charities since the group began in 1989.

Organizers said 138 trucks and 78 cradles will be given to the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Spark of Love Toy Collection; Haven Hills, a domestic violence center in the West Valley; and Walking Shield American Indian Society, an agency that serves Native American communities in Arizona, Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota. Those agencies will distribute the toys to needy children by Christmas Day.

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Although toy drives are ubiquitous at this time of year, group members say building toys brings them deeper satisfaction than giving the store-bought variety.

“There is a lot of pride that goes into the toys,” said Bob Rennie, a Granada Hills cabinetmaker who heads the group’s toy production committee. “Hopefully, these toys will make a difference in these kids’ lives.”

This year’s project began in February when group members got together to brainstorm toy ideas. They hovered over the planes, helicopters and drag racers they had made in the past. They looked at plans for rocking horses. They considered toys that girls would prefer.

“You don’t want to be sexist and say boy or girl toys, but it would be nice to make something on the gentler side,” said Karen Frazier, a club member from Mission Hills who works for an insurance company.

In selecting a toy to build, members also had to take into consideration their varying levels of woodworking experience, Rennie said.

Some members are professional contractors, surveyors and engineers, while others are dentists, salespeople, letter carriers, teachers and retired utility workers.

Cradles and logging trucks, members agreed, would give everyone a hand in making the toys.

The Granada Hills Woman’s Club and Temple Beth Hillel in Valley Village agreed to make 78 dolls, as well as tiny pillows, blankets and mattresses to go in the cradles.

Keith Swaner, who owns Swaner Hardwood Co. in Burbank, donated $500 worth of oak, maple and birch.

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In August, a handful of members--working without models or plans--created prototypes, drafted design plans, determined the best way to fabricate each part, created milling and holding jigs and planned an assembly line that would allow them to produce 216 toys in one day.

“People don’t really understand all the work that goes into designing and building the toys,” said Arron Latt of Encino who owns a construction consulting firm. “They think you just put it together. It’s not that easy; it’s very involved.”

On the last weekend in October, all 40 woodworkers gathered at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills. They divided into two teams, Rennie said. One group put together the prefabricated doll cradles, while the others sawed logging truck components. By the time the cradles were assembled, the primary parts for the trucks were moving into the assembly area.

“We have the shop for two days and we try to optimize every moment,” Rennie said. “There’s no time for people to stand around.”

The two-day effort is strenuous, Latt said, but worthwhile.

Having given handmade toys to his grandson, he said it is not hard to imagine the children’s joy when they are handed a cradle or logging truck.

“I can envision the thrill of the child who is getting something like this who otherwise may not be getting anything,” he said. “It is a labor of love for everyone involved.”