SUNDRE – Following just a few meetings, a foundation upon which to start building the Sundre Men’s Shed certainly seems to be taking shape.
Most recently getting together on Tuesday, Nov. 19, the fledgling organization has elected officers.
They are Kelson Bastien, chair, Tom Boucher, treasurer, and Lance Langford, secretary.
“It needed to be done, is basically what it comes down to,” said Bastien about stepping into the leadership role.
“I just felt like I might be able to keep things somewhat on track and on the go,” Bastien told the Albertan on Nov. 21 during a phone interview.
“We’re off the ground and we’re getting going because we elected officers,” Boucher said in a separate interview.
“Now I can go ahead and apply for our charitable status,” he said, adding that will open the doors to applying for grants.
“We’ll just keep chugging away,” he said. “It’ll come together. We’ve got some guys that are enthused about this.”
Including an initial meeting held earlier in October at The Den, the gathering was the group’s third. And while still in the preliminary stages with some details that remain to be solidified, steps have already been taken toward potential plans for projects to work on.
For the time being, the group meets every second Tuesday at 7 p.m. and attendance depends largely on each individual’s availability. The next one is set to take place on Dec. 3.
Bastien said the intent for now is to gauge where the members are at to get a better idea of what skillsets each one brings as well as determine what they’re most comfortable working on.
To test the proverbial waters, they started with a fairly simple yet useful endeavour in carpentry by coming up with a design for bootjacks.
“That was our first project, just something to get our hands dirty and figure out where we’re all sitting,” he said, adding approximately half a dozen were put together in a relatively short span of time with a few outstanding finishing touches to go such as staining and branding them with a logo.
While the finer details have not been fully determined, Bastien said the group wants to get the bootjacks into the hands of people who might want one, whether by donating them or selling them at cost for now.
“We haven’t made a decision on that as of yet, but they will be getting out to the community,” he said.
Boucher said the group had during the meeting prior taken apart a pallet to conjure up prototypes of two different designs and later went onto pick a preferred option.
Although the bootjacks aren’t necessarily finely sculpted works of art, they’re fully functional and can be made available on request, he said, adding the group also brought back to life a snowblower that will undoubtedly be coming in handy sooner than later.
Additionally, Boucher has in mind the possibility of making what he calls a card block, which he described as “basically a two-by-four with 15-degree slots cut in it so people that have mobility issues with their hands can set their cards in it.”
“My wife is involved with a canasta group of eight ladies and I made some for them,” he said. “Anybody that has trouble holding 13 cards, they’re excellent.”
He envisions building up a modest stock and along with other pieces like the bootjacks eventually set up a booth at local farmers’ markets.
“What I’d like to do is build a few and then go into a craft fair and maybe get our get our presence out there,” he said.
Bastien said he also aims to keep open the lines of communication with the Sundre Greenwood Neighbourhood Place Society to better be able to tap into the community’s interests and needs to facilitate the effort in terms of identifying worthwhile projects.
That in turn led to discussing how the Sundre Men’s Shed members might help out with the society’s Snow Angels program that residents can sign up for, he said, adding that earlier on in the day he spoke with the Albertan, Boucher had cleared some snow for a couple of people who were unable to.
“Ideally we would like to tag team it, but it’s all about availability,” said Bastien. “We figured maybe that was something quick and easy that we could do to provide a service.”
So whether building physical projects like bootjacks or finding ways to provide services around the community, the group is keeping an open mind. They’re even looking a little further ahead, and even if next spring at this point might feel like an eternity away, are thinking about constructing planters.
“We’re interested in building some raised beds for the community,” he said, adding that will depend on the availability of not only members but of course also materials.
“It’s easier when you have charitable status,” he said, confirming that’s among the next steps.
“And then once we get that … we can start looking at getting some sponsorships or even just donations to help us do what we got to do,” he said.
“Being that we’re brand new, there’s a lot of things that we’re still hashing out,” he said. “There are an awful lot of questions that we ourselves are still asking, so nothing is yet written in stone.”
That means anyone who might be interested in joining could get involved in helping to steer the group’s direction.
“We would love as many people as we can get and as much input as we can get,” said Bastien. “Because the more people you have, the more experience and the more knowledge.”
Follow the Sundre Men’s Shed social media page or alternatively connect with Bastien by texting or calling 403-681-7783 to find out more.
