Making Wooden Christmas Toys

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I’M CALLED A WHAT?  

Some of the fondest memories and joys  
Are of constructing wooden Christmas toys.  
“Open Your Heart” programs, I remember,  
Sponsored year after year in December.  
The American Legion sponsored the program.  
I was behind schedule and in a jam.  
The homemade toys may not be on the shelf.  

OPEN YOUR HEART AND GIVE  
I enlisted some help from volunteers,  
Talking fast, like a fast-talking auctioneer.  
The lumberyards saved leftover wood blocks.  
A shop teacher sawed those donated stocks.   
We assembled for kids down on their luck.   
We made wooden cradles, mixers, and trucks.   
Needing some paint, I was beside myself.   
If only the North Pole would lend me an elf!   

A COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS PROGRAM  
Some patients, out on pass, put on the paint;  
They hustled, stirred, and brushed without complaint.  
And soon there were a hundred homemade toys  
To brighten the season for girls and boys.  
My kids went to school next day, and did say,  
“Dad’s making wooden toys for Christmas Day.”   
But, this time the last laugh was on myself,   
When they told their class, “Must be an elf!”   

(Bismarck, ND, American Legion Post)  
© 1993, Orv Alveshere   

Orv’s Cowboy Poetry  

Orv Alveshere, an award-winning writer of humorous cowboy poetry and stories, “grew up hanging on a horse.” He writes about his lifetime of adventures.

Orv’s Cowboy Poetry tells of the days of life on the ranch in Midwest America when horses were used for transportation, field work, Sunday-go-to-meetings, and more. Read cowboy poetry from our beloved Orv Alveshere who recalls the days and memories from his past growing up farming on the prairies of North Dakota. Revel in the glory days of the true cowboy. Take steps back into the history of rural farm life, when horses were the centerpiece of the ranch and instrumental in the survival of the families that built America.