Polk County
Living
Polk County Itemizer-Observer • July 22, 2015 7A
Making sawdust? Remember woodshop’s
motto: ‘If you make a mess, clean it up please’
By Jolene Guzman
The Itemizer-Observer
DALLAS — LeRoy Rempel
said there has been talk of
opening a hobby center — a
woodshop — at Dallas Re-
tirement Village (DRV) for
not just years, but decades.
He s a i d h i s b r o t h e r
worked in maintenance at
DRV years ago and tried to
establish a center, but there
was never enough space.
“They’ve wanted one for
years, but they never had a
location,” said Rempel, a
DRV resident.
T h i s m o n t h , t h a t ’s
changed, thanks to dona-
tions and the tireless effort
of Rempel and fellow DRV
resident Russ Thommen.
Recently, the DRV health
service center was remod-
eled, adding a classroom for
DRV’s certified nurse’s assis-
tant classes. That left a mod-
ular building empty that
DRV leaders thought might
be perfect for the long-
awaited “hobby center.”
From that point, Thom-
men and Rempel went to
work setting it up. Lifelong
woodworkers, they were a
perfect fit for the job.
“You and I have been
making sawdust since we
were young bucks,” Rempel
said to Thommen, smiling.
Rempel and Thommen’s
first focus with the center
JOLENE GUZMAN/Itemizer-Observer
LeRoy Rempel, left, and Russ Thommen were instrumental in setting up Dallas Retirement Village’s hobby center.
was safety. Once all the tools
were in place, they marked
safety zones with black and
yellow tape. They made it a
center rule that no one uses
power tools while working
alone in the shop.
The center is neatly or-
ganized and clearly marked,
a sign of the care they took
in setting it up. Rempel
alone put in about 140 hours
working in the center since
the project started in May.
“My wife said it felt like I
went back to work,” he said.
The center has a wide va-
riety of tools and is open to
all DRV residents capable of
using the equipment.
“There’s just about all the
woodworking tools you
would find in a regular
woodshop,” Rempel said.
“It’s just an ideal set up,”
Thommen added.
Many of the tools were
donated, Thommen said, es-
timating people gave $1,500
in equipment to the center.
DRV’s maintenance depart-
ment also provided new
tools for the shop.
DRV hosted a grand open-
ing on July 1, and Thommen
and Rempel held an orienta-
tion after that, explaining
safety and courtesy rules —
like cleaning up after use.
Since then, 30 people have
used the shop and some
have already claimed a cabi-
net to store their projects.
Both regular volunteers —
they also take shifts driving a
golf cart transporting people
from building to building on
DRV’s campus — Thommen
and Rempel like to stay busy.
They said the hobby center
adds one more way for resi-
dents to do just that.
“You can’t just sit in your
rocking chair all day,” Rem-
pel said.
The pair has plans for im-
proving the center and up-
grading the equipment
when they can. They want to
install more cabinets for fre-
quent users and build a “fin-
ishing room” where people
can paint or apply finish in
properly ventilated area.
“So far, it’s gone over
well,” Thommen said. “We
anticipate more will use it as
people come and go.”
You will likely catch the
two of them in the center
working on projects — even
Rempel, who has a shop in
his garage.
“It’s not essential, but it is
nice,” Thommen said.
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
The center has a wide variety of tools ready for use.
JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Tools are labeled and have a place in the hobby center.
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JOLENE GUZMAN/ Itemizer-Observer
Donations of tools helped get the center up and running.