Easy Woodworking

Who would want to work if they could just sit around and relax? One eighty year old man from New Brighton, Pennsylvania, chose to work instead of relax. According to an article entitled Building hope by Brian David of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Richard Bischoff got involved in a church woodworking project to benefit victims of Hurricane Katrina. The easy woodworking project involving constructing benches and tables created infectious enthusiasm and energy and helped both the hurricane victims and the volunteers who did the construction.

Richard Bischoff had retired and settled into a lazy lifestyle. He had traded his truck in for a small sedan and put an easy chair in his home wood shop. He spent so much time sleeping in his easy chair his wife started to worry about him.

But then, he got involved in a woodworking project started by another man named Jim Moose. The Western Pennsylvania Table Project was started in response to the need for furniture in the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. Moose designed a simple, yet sturdy and elegant table with two benches with kits so that volunteers could build them with limited training. Bischoff met Moose and the two men fed off of each other’s enthusiasm. Bischoff then started a table and bench construction program at his Presbyterian church.

The enthusiasm of Bischoff and Moose soon infected other members of the church. Two other men from the church helped Bischoff get the church wood shop set up. Soon they and several others were spending Saturday mornings in the wood shop constructing the tables and benches. One volunteer named Loraine McGown had no previous experience with woodworking but now considers Bischoff her mentor and gets reward from the work.

By March 14 of this year, they had their first eight sets of tables and benches ready to send to New Orleans. This obviously benefited the hurricane victims who needed the furniture but also the volunteers who created them. Betty Bischoff, Richard’s wife, worked with him in the wood shop and was glad they could become active together. Other members of the church have also enjoyed and grown from the project.

Easy woodworking projects such as this can get people motivated to work and leave them better for it. Who says retirement means sitting in an easy chair?

Sitting around doing nothing and "relaxing" is so boring and is a sure way to get old fast. I am nearing the retirement age and can assure you that my time will be well spent. We are in the process of buying a new, smaller house, and there are many new items that I plan to make with wood.

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