New life at Garden Terrace: resident
Tuesday, May 29, 2007 -- Deron Hamel
If there’s one piece of knowledge Philip McHale would like to impart to anyone considering moving into a long-term care home, it’s that the transition marks a beginning – not an end – of life’s possibilities.
“With me . . . my quality of life has improved 100 per cent,” says the retired offset printer, when asked how he enjoys living at Garden Terrace in Kanata.
Some 30 years ago, McHale decided to take up woodworking as a hobby.
“I just thought I’d try my hand at it,” he says.
What began as a casual hobby morphed into a passion for McHale. In fact, he can be found almost every day in the home’s workshop, sawing, sanding and hammering away on his latest project.
While woodworking was something he enjoyed before coming to the long-term care home three years ago, McHale says because he no longer has to do household chores such as cutting grass or shoveling snow, he finds himself being able to do what he loves best.
“I have a lot of free time here,” he says.
His most recent piece of work is a children’s picnic table he made for Shannon Boisvenue, the home’s life enrichment co-ordinator (LEC).
McHale also uses his talents to make repairs for residents and staff, as well as occasionally fix things around the home.
Recently, McHale has combined his love of woodworking with his love of automobiles. The result is the creation of several wooden vintage car models. While some artisans prefer to have a design to work with, McHale builds his models from memory.
In addition to vintage automobiles, McHale is also carving wooden animal figures such as wolves and bears.
McHale says he would like to teach a class on woodworking at the home. He feels it would provide a creative outlet for some of the men. He’s also interested in taking classes himself. He’s waiting to get into a one-week class at Lee Valley Tools on miniature lathe instruction.
Monica Burgess, assistant LEC at Garden Terrace, says McHale serves as a role model for other residents. She notes he often brings in unfinished work for the men to help him sandpaper.
Burgess says McHale will help staff members by using his projects as show-and-tell props for residents with dementia.
“I think it’s awesome,” says Burgess. “It’s good for the residents to witness.”
Most importantly, Burgess says residents like McHale send a positive message to their peers.
“Life doesn’t end here,” she says. “We encourage people to continue on with their hobbies.”
