With 24 members who meet weekly and now a shop at which it can work on projects, the Skeena Valley Men's Shed is looking toward an engaged future, says Bradley Pretty, its president.
It is also noting its first anniversary on June 18 as the region's western-most example of a growing movement aimed at providing a space for men to both socialize and contribute to projects aimed at community betterment.
Both goals have also been recently advanced thanks to a Terrace Community Foundation grant enabling the club to buy a table saw engineered so the blade stops immediately if it comes into contact with skin or flesh.
"We've got a lot of different guys, a lot of different skill sets, so safety is a big thing," Pretty said of the saw's purchase.
The Skeena Valley Men's Shed has been fortunate in developing a network with which it can swap services for the benefit of all parties.
Sharon Bandstra at the Garage community space on Kalum was an early supporter and the group still meets there. In return, the men have built garden boxes for the Garage.
When the group needed a kitchen to make pies to sell, it used the 'Ksan community garden location kitchen and, in return, built compost bins for the location.
Residents may also be familiar with the nearly 30 raised cedar planters, and several smaller versions, the group sold with help from a donation by Percy Gavronsky and First Choice Builders. Tenaquip has provided safety equipment.
The group has built shelving for the Terrace Hospice Society and has delivered medical furniture to residences. Sue Skeates has also guided the group in writing grant applications.
A major step forward for the Men's Shed came when Diana Stephen donated the use of her husband Barrie's shop after he died.
"She couldn't take the shop being unused," said Pretty. "It has tools and all kinds of different things, almost like it's turnkey."
Shed members have also moved in some of their personal tools.
While the group will look at community projects and ways of earning money to support itself, Pretty said it is pretty clear about what it won't do.
"We're not in competition with a contracting firm or contractors in town. We're not a cheap labour source and we're not a sweatshop for seniors," he said.
In many ways, Pretty described this first year as one in which the group felt its way on how it wanted to organize and undertake activities. It already has amassed close to 2,500 hours of volunteer time.
"There's really no template. It's up to each men's shed as to how they want to operate," he said.
For those interested, the Skeena Valley Men's Shed meets from 10 a.m. to noon each Tuesday at the Garage community space.
