By Laura Hipshire
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Mel Dompier has a passion for fixing and making things, so when he and his wife, Connie, moved from Port Huron, Mich., to Henry Ford Village, an Erickson community in Dearborn, he immediately joined the community’s hobby shop club.

"I like working with my hands," he says. He likes it so much, in fact, that he now serves as the club’s vice-chairman and initiated a Make It and Take It class. Participants—beginner through intermediate—learned the ins and outs of woodworking and ended with a keepsake.

Making a useful project
Dompier says he viewed the class as an opportunity for men and women who had never worked with tools before to become more familiar with them. He and his colleagues demonstrated various machines in the shop such as table saws, band saws, and sanding machines.

Dompier’s class, at only $3.00 a person, included materials, such as black walnut, oak, or mahogany wood; paint; and the training.

Each participant made a wooden key holder with a magnetic back that holds four keys.

Dompier went through each step with everyone, from cutting the wood to drilling the holes. Everyone then had a chance to paint and personalize their creation.

Loretta Tuer, who moved to Henry Ford Village from White Lake, Mich., says she really enjoyed the class. "I thought it was excellent. Mel showed us how to run the machines and was very helpful and patient," she says.

Unleashing a new hobby
Tuer had no prior experience with any of the hobby shop machines, but she says her redwood key holder came out wonderfully.

Tuer decided to come back a few days later and have Dompier help her use a wood burner to etch the date on the back of her key holder.

"Mel is very good at what he does, and he’s a good teacher," she says.