By Meghan Streit
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

The smell of freshly cut wood is in the air, and the whirring of electric saws hums in the background. You wouldn’t be able to find it if you didn’t know it was there—but tucked away in Sedgebrook’s basement is a woodworker’s dream space.

This isn’t your average basement with a few saws and a stack of two-by-fours. The community’s wood shop boasts about $10,000 of state-of-the-art equipment, a full supply room, and plenty of work space for resident woodworkers.

“It really is a wonderful shop,” says Bill Leroy, who spearheads many of the wood shop group’s activities.

About 25 residents regularly spend time working on various projects in the shop. And although woodworking is typically thought of as the domain of men, the Sedgebrook group also includes three women.

Woodwork for a good cause
The crafty group has built a range of impressive pieces, from bird feeders to chests of drawers. One of their biggest undertakings last year was the construction of 5 benches and 14 raised gardens for Sedgebrook’s spacious outdoor garden. The pieces are not only attractive but useful as well. The raised gardens enable residents to tend to flowers and vegetables without straining muscles and joints by kneeling on the ground.

The woodworkers have also put their hobby to good use by building dozens of decorative bird houses, which they donated to Glenkirk, a local nonprofit that helps people with developmental disabilities.

Building benches—and friendships
Having finished four basements over the years, resident Fred Tolzein is certainly handy, but he had never done woodworking for pleasure. Now that he lives at Sedgebrook, he spends a few mornings a week in the wood shop with friends.