Magic Staircase to history at Schell Lumber in Stouffville

                                    
Glen Byer operates the foot pedal on the mortise and tenon machine dating back                                                    to 1922 in the Schell Lumber Sash and Door Shop.

From Stouffville Free Press, August 18, 2016

By Hannelore Volpe

There’s a magical-looking staircase that leads directly to the past at the Schell Lumber Home Building Centre in downtown Stouffville.

Climb up the well-worn stairs and you enter into a heritage woodworking shop dating back to 1878.

Called the Schell Lumber Sash and Door Shop, it is presided over by Harry Schell, the 89 year old Schell family patriarch who still comes in to work every weekday. The head craftsman is Glen Byer, who learned woodworking and related trades from his dad. Mr. Byer has been working with the Schell family for around 20 years. His first assignment was to make 40 windows destined for the British Virgin Islands.

Working with him is Mr. Schell’s grandson, Jeremy, who can be found on any given day involved in such projects as producing dozens of dogleg balusters destined for local homes.

The workshop is a fascinating place. With its high ceiling, now insulated, and exposed brick walls, it wouldn’t be out of place in a fashionable downtown Toronto coffee shop-except for the machines and sawdust, although these too would be a drawing card.

In fact, two machines, the band saw with its 18 foot long blade and ‘Harry’s Sticker’, used for cutting out intricate trim shapes, date back to 1878. The mortise and tenon machine from around 1922 produces custom window frames. All three machines, as well as many others, are in regular use.

 The solid maple floor was installed by Harry Schell himself. A giant boiler that was located downstairs at one time produced steam to run the belts that drove the main shaft in the workshop upstairs. It was in use until the 1970s, when the business converted to electricity.

“This was one of the first commercial buildings in Stouffville,” noted Schell operations manager Ron Schell, who is the grandson of the original owner, Wesley Schell. The building was first used as a planing mill in 1878. Wesley Schell bought the building with a partner, Clayton Stouffer, in 1922. It was then home to the Canadian Bee Supply and Honey Co. “They had a planer and a saw to keep the customers. Farmers wanted wood to fix their wagon or their manure spreader,” Harry explained.

After a few years, Wesley Schell became the sole owner. “After World War Two, my brother Percy and I started to work with Dad and carried it on and we are still here,” said Harry. Back then, he managed the mill workshop, and Percy managed the office.

The shop still produces windows and doors and is also sought after by people looking to restore the trim, mouldings, windows and doors of their traditional homes here and in surrounding communities. In the early years, the business produced 14 inch high baseboards and door trim, Ron noted. Now, the Sash and Door Shop fixes doors, does replications of historic designs, builds mantelpieces and “whatever is related to wood,” he added.

When you head back downstairs, you are right back in the 21st century in a bustling place with trades people and residents coming in and out. You can sense the camaraderie between the staff and customers. This is a place to come, not just for building or lumber related supplies, but because the knowledgeable staff will answer your questions and point you in the right direction with your project. These days Harry and Percy Schell’s children and grandchildren work in the shop, the Schell hardware and design store and the lumber yard.

But the wood working shop still retains its link with the past. It is unique, said Mr. Byer, because it “still uses the old machines” and the work is done “the old-fashioned way”.

Lemonville Group of Artists goes On-line!

                                          Enjoy lively art at www.lemonvillegroupofartists.com

For our family, the first joyful event that shouts ‘spring has come’ is the annual art show by the Lemonville Group of Artists.

It’s right up there with seeing the crocuses bloom and watching robins feed their fuzzy nestlings. 

For 26 years now, people have streamed into the Lemonville Community Centre the first weekend in May to enjoy the group’s colourful, incredibly varied art and talk with the artists. During the show, the place is wall-to-wall colour. You can see the creativity percolating from each work. The buzz of conversation fills the air and sunlight streams through the large windows.

This would have been the Lemonville Group of Artists’ 27th year. But as we know all too well, COVID-19 has led to almost everything being cancelled. 

So the group decided to put the show on-line at lemonvillegroupofartists.com

 And the works will be there for the whole summer. It’s a great way to lift your spirits.

The site is easy to navigate. You can look up each artist’s creations and can contact the artist if you want to know more about their work or purchase one. 

This isn’t the first time the group has had to meet a major challenge; two years ago the power was out at the Lemonville Community Centre for the whole show weekend and it turned into a ‘bring your own flashlight’ event for the artists. And it was a success.

The Lemonville Group of Artists ordinarily meets weekly with guest instructors or group members leading workshops. The 20-member group enjoys exploring, learning and trying new media and ideas, in effect’ stretching’ themselves, and it shows in their art. Each artist is distinct in what they produce.

Visit the show at lemonvillegroupofartists.com

Bang those pots and pans!! Support front-line workers

Video credit: Justin Pray

I think this self-isolation business is starting to get on my nerves.
It’s week eight already, we’ve cooked every single meal from scratch (oh, the memory of our wonderful coffee shops and restaurants) and cleaned, filed and sorted ad infinitum. And, of course, have read, written and gardened; that’s the silver lining.
We have gotten used to ordering groceries and buying what we need on-line.
We have become modern-age pioneers as we try to beat the dastardly COVID-19 bug.
But today, I saw the sun for awhile and the temperature was slowly inching towards sweater-less weather. If this were last summer, we would give in to the temptation to gather with our fellow human beings and head outside to concerts, art festivals and any other community event going. Crowds of people would be everywhere.
But wait a minute: the COVID-19 pandemic still holds the upper hand. COVID-19 cases and deaths world-wide continue to go up daily—although more slowly in some places. There are already plans in place to gradually reopen the economy. We don’t know exactly when, but it will happen.
I think we will soon turn the corner on the pandemic because of the partnership we Canadians have developed. Our half of the partnership entails staying home. And it looks like Stouffville is doing its part. There are cars parked in driveways all over town. The bottom line is that if fewer of us are exposed to the virus, the other half of our partnership—doctors, nurses and other front-line workers—will have fewer of us to look after.
The paramedic, funeral director assistant, personal support worker, essential municipal employee, grocery store clerk, former hospital employee, family doctor and TTC bus driver in our family and friend circles know first-hand what’s involved.
We grieve with the family doctor, who has seen patients taken by COVID-19 recently. Many of these people have become her friends over the years.
We wonder how difficult it will be for one young paramedic who is returning to work. Her little boy is one year old, just learning how to walk, and mommy can be exposed to the virus every day.
Even an hour of wearing all that cumbersome PPE can be exhausting, but doctors, nurses and others press on to care for their patients.
One young man whose job takes him to hospitals and nursing homes frequently is asked each time if he has been in contact with anyone with COVID-19. One memorable day when he again said, “Yes, every day!”, he was surprised as those near him left with great speed.
 Although most shoppers respect the rules in grocery stores by keeping their six-foot distance, there are still a few who come up close to the grocery store employee, tap him on the shoulder and ask that vital question, “where are the frozen peas?”
But most of us are overwhelmed by the sacrifices, sheer determination and courage of our front-line people.
Businesses and individuals will drop off food for hospital staff. One man plays Beatles music from his car to cheer everyone up while police, paramedics and firefighters have formed parades around hospitals, displaying morale-bolstering signs.
In front of Stouffville’s Northern Gate community, residents have put up a big Thank You sign with Canadian flags. The residents have stood at the ends of their driveways, banging pots and pans, singing O Canada, and listening to a neighbour play the trumpet. In Unionville, many homes have blue hearts, some with “Thank you” painted on them in their front yards. In the tiny community of Burnt River, the hearts are bright red. Every week the number of hearts keeps growing, while Snoopy hugs Woodstock on signs around Musselman’s Lake and in town.
In downtown Toronto, people are banging pots and pans from the upper floors of their condo buildings and at 7:30 each night, you’ll hear the clanging on a street near the Danforth.
But this is not the time to be fooled, even though COVID-19 numbers are growing more slowly. We have to keep on keeping on, following the same old saw, Stay home, wash your hands, cough into your elbow and stay six feet away from anybody outside of your house.
We don’t want to undo all our hard work!