Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883

Working hands and a giving heart

Scanson donates hundreds of woodworking projects to area youth

When John Scanson retired, he knew that he wouldn't enjoy sitting around "doing nothing." He knew he was going to have to keep busy just to keep those aches and pains away. Not to mention the fact that he prefers to stay busy.

After serving as Midkota School's janitor for 14 years, he had developed a strong bond with the kids and the school where he worked. When Scanson combined his desire to keep busy with his natural affinity for kids and interest in woodworking, the result has been pick-up loads of woodworking projects given away to elementary age children.

This year, Scanson spoke with Principal Natalie Becker about giving birdhouses to the elementary-aged children at NR-S. Gesturing a measurement in the air, Scanson said he had known Becker's husband, Tim, since "he was that high." After Scanson finished the birdhouses, they agreed on a spring delivery.

On the last day of school, Scanson loaded his pickup with over 200 birdhouses and parked on the north side of the building. That day he gave one of his handmade birdhouses to each of the 194 children at school.

"I had 211 birdhouses loaded in the pick-up that day," Scanson commented. "But they only took 194." However, this wasn't the first time he has given birdhouses away in New Rockford, as children in Mrs. Ystaas and Mrs. Hager's classes had each received one of the birdhouses he had built in previous years.

Last year, Mrs. Hager reported that Scanson had donated 24 birdhouses he had made that year to the students in her fifth-grade class. Scanson first met those students at the Central North Dakota Steam Thresher's Reunion in New Rockford. Many of the students enthusiastically helped him to pick potatoes from the freshly loosened soil. After a short visit, Scanson insisted on making a birdhouse for every student in the class, and that's a promise he kept.

NR-S is not the only school to have received birdhouses. Scanson has also built, painted and given away birdhouses to children at Glenfield, Binford, Kensal and Devils Lake. Scanson estimates that in total he has given away 500 birdhouses over the years.

Scanson builds the birdhouses from lumber left over from projects that contractors have worked on. He received scrap lumber from the roof project at the Nicolai Chiropractic Center that went into some of the birdhouses. Some of the lumber he has already gotten from scraps from the new CenDak fertilizer under construction north of New Rockford.

Scanson laughed when he told a woman's story about watching six birds fly out of her child's birdhouse. Apparently, that bird hatched five eggs and they all left at the same time that day. With all the birdhouses that Scanson has built, he's provided homes for many bird families.

When he first started building toys, he made barns for little boys. Then, one little girl, who had gotten an American Girl doll began looking for a doll bed. When she couldn't find one at the time, this little girl declared that if Scanson could build a barn, he could build a doll bed. So, he told her he would try. Since that time, he has adapted the plan and has given away about 160 doll beds. Some of them have even been sold at silent auctions.

He recently gave doll beds to each of the girls in the elementary schools in Kensal and Binford. Now, he says he has about 60 barns to build so that he can also give something to the boys. He says he is looking for some kind of thin plywood to use for the roof of the barns.

An unfortunate saw injury this winter required Scanson to get some stitches, but he said that Chelsey Zeltinger, DNP, FNP-C did a great job sewing him up again. He joked that only when he cuts off two fingers can she take his power tools away.

Scanson's newest project is a pumpkin patch. With more than 78 pumpkin hills, he is hoping for a bumper crop this fall to give away. Scanson will come to the Transcript to let us know when they are ready, so watch for an invitation in the Transcript when October rolls around and it's pumpkin time!

 
 
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