There is nothing more nostalgic of childhood and my Dad, than entering a wood shop with the aroma of pine and cedar shavings permeating the wood stove heated air. Many happy cold, and rainy days were spent in some corner of the shop performing tasks of world shattering significance, like sweeping the floor, or straightening nails. I was raised in an environment where all toys were made of wood and by people who knew and loved you. In retrospect, I wish I had spent more time in my Dad's shop. If I had, perhaps today I would be a better toymaker, and even a better person if I had done so. Becoming a woodworker was not my life's goal, but when I think of all the pleasure and satisfaction that woodworking has given me, I truly consider myself blessed.

Not until I had my own children did I get an opportunity to apply my toy making skills in producing cradles, doll houses, Noah's Arks, barns and castles. Soon my notoriety spread to my children's school, and I started to produce wooden toys for their annual Christmas Fair. Retiring after 31 years in Education, my love of toy making became my full time love and hobby. I now spend countless hours in my workshop producing what I call "heritage toys" - toys that will last a child's play life and last to be passed on to their own children. Wooden toys, I believe, have an "anima" or soul imbued with life, tactile and aromatic. I love working with wood, and seeing children's eyes widen with excitement when they receive one of my wooden toys.