John Ellis
“I could not believe it when Lance and Debbie turned up at my new place with a shed! I was speechless and didn’t know what to say. I can only say thank you to all of you for helping me out – and I can tell you I will be spending many happy hours in that shed as I still love working with wood. And even more thanks for my new belt sander that is already being put to good use! I am over the moon,” Tom Taft wrote to the Chewton Chat.
Tom is a woodworker and a timber aficionado from way back. And it’s always inspirational to see the projects he’s been working on, be it constructing or carving. The boxes he’s created as gifts or donated as raffle prizes, the chess sets, the birds, the horses, the music boxes, the green men, the clocks, the redeemers – and the list goes on!
Tom was moving house and had a carport of woodworking tools that there was no space for at his new house. A problem? It sure was for a moment, until the community stepped up.
The Chewton Domain Society agreed to receive donations for ‘Tom’s Shed’, so appeals went out. That was on a Thursday, they had the shed cost covered by Friday, the shed was purchased on Saturday, and Tom moved in on Monday.
After those few hectic days, the shed was planned to be erected on Tuesday… but three pieces were missing from the flatpack!
Those parts have since arrived, Debra Tranter and Lance Bell have put the shed up, the tools are locked in safely, and Tom is as happy as a dog with two tails! As is everyone who helped with the ‘shed problem.’
And just when you think things couldn’t be better – they suddenly were! Collectively, the society had raised $1,140.00 so there was money left over. Tom’s old belt sander was on its last legs, so Mount Alexander Hardware was visited, and Tom took a new belt sander back to the shed. Everyone is now looking forward to seeing what comes out of that shed in future, because Tom is full of surprises! Creative surprises!