Pint-sized painted fun
It’s a long way from Santa’s workshop, but once a week the craft room at Harbor Crest Retirement Community on Spokane’s South Hill resembles it. On a recent afternoon the room bustled with activity. The sound of a drill press punctuated conversation as a small group of volunteers painted dozens of wooden toy trucks.
“It’s quite a project,” said Harbor Crest resident Earl Haynes. “We’re making about 2,000 trucks and they’re all going to charity.”
The Hoo-Hoo Club of Spokane, an organization of people affiliated with the lumber industry, sponsors the project. Jack Eskeberg, an officer in the club, said, “It was once a very strong group when there were lots of lumber mills in Spokane.” Like many service organizations, the Hoo-Hoo Club has seen its numbers decline in recent years.
When Eskeberg and his wife, Helen, moved to the retirement community, they felt others might want to share in the toy-making process. And they were right. Each Wednesday, residents and Hoo-Hoo members gather to paint the trucks. The handcrafted trucks are mainly assembled elsewhere by club members, who make each part of the vehicles, with the exception of the wheels. They brand both passenger and driver’s sides with the Hoo-Hoo Express logo.
Hugh James worked at a table apart from the painters, carefully covering each logo with a piece of tape so it wouldn’t be painted over. “I’m not a painter,” he said with a smile. “I tried.”
Brightly colored trucks covered the long counter in the craft room. Some sported racing stripes, some had checkerboard patterns, and all showed the signs of careful thought and attention.
Harbor Crest resident Jean Breitenfeldt applied a delicate coat of paint to a truck’s interior. She said, “My real love is landscape painting in oils, but this is about as close as I can come, here.” She thought her grandchildren would love the toys.
Helen Eskeberg chuckled as she worked. “I feel like I’m back in kindergarten. I can’t follow the lines!”
Harbor Crest provides snacks to keep the busy group going. They also bought a drill press for the woodshop and donate paints and other decorative materials. Staff members popped in to greet folks and even wielded a paintbrush or two.
“I like to do this,” said resident Florence Kingrey as she painted a truck pink to match her sweater. “It’s for a good cause.”
The good cause includes children all over the world. The trucks are given to several area churches, who tuck them into Operation Christmas Child boxes, or send them to orphanages in impoverished countries.
In addition, hundreds of happy Spokane children have received the trucks while waiting for their parents to shop at the Christmas Bureau. Each child who visits the child care area at the Bureau is given a toy truck to take home.
Local institutions like the Shriner’s Hospital, Vanessa Behan Crisis Nursery and Catholic Charities are also thankful recipients. Lisa Green, of Childbirth and Parenting Alone said, “Each year around Christmas we get a shipment. We love to get the trucks.”
The popular toys are put in goodie bags for older siblings when a new baby arrives. They’re also given as prizes at CAPA-sponsored parties. Green said her group finds lots of ways to get the trucks into childrens’ hands.
“You can see how much time and effort are put into them,” she said. “The moms in our program love the idea that someone made the toys for them.”