Crafting holiday cheer

The woodshop program at the StoneRidge retirement community in Mystic, Conn. has gained momentum in recent years by attracting new members wanting to make everything from small gifts to elaborate projects.

“One of the big things we’re involved with here is training,” says lead carpenter Ron Hunter, a StoneRidge resident. “A lot of [members] had shops at home before they came here but they really didn’t have many skills, so we’re teaching them. We also help them if they’re physically unable to do a certain part of a project. For example, we can help do the lathework for someone with Parkinson’s disease. It’s really a big part of our success here and we enjoy it very much.

“The woodshop has been here for quite a while. I’ve been here about three and a half years, but when I came, the woodshop did not have good equipment and they did not have a lot of members. So, I brought most of my own equipment, which is pretty high-end stuff. That made a big difference, and we got interested people and now we’ve got a very good number of people involved.”

The members have been busy since 2020 producing an annual Nordic Village display. What started as a small project has evolved into a chapel, four houses, a train station with a functioning train, a mill, a skating pond, and much more.

“This Nordic Village now has over 30 people involved. They’re not all part of the woodshop program. Many are artists, and some just do it for fun, so we find ways to use them. Everyone collaborates on the designs,” says Hunter.

“We’ve also started adding animals and people to the display. We now have about 70 people and critters. It sounds like a lot, but we could use about 70 more.”

This article was originally published in the February 2024 issue.