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| Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet Stephen Rand, at center, created 24 keepsake boxes that he donated to residents of the Maine Veterans’ Home last Wednesday. With three different styles of boxes, and multiple bags filled with his handiwork, it took a small entourage to take the boxes around the home. Rand is shown here with Craig Faye of the DAV, who helped organize the delivery, and resident Abel Beaulieu. |
By Natalie Bazinet
Staff Writer
CARIBOU — Presque Isle native Stephen Rand may not think there’s anything special about the keepsake boxes he made for 24 residents of the Maine Veterans’ Home in Caribou — but Rand’s the only one who thinks that.
“The quality of work he does is excellent; it’s a labor of love,” said Craig Faye, who works with the DAV. “He says ‘It’s just a hobby’ or ‘it’s just what I do,’ — I said ‘you’ve got to be kidding me!’ This isn’t pine, this is maple, birch and ash – if you make mistakes, you can’t correct it in this wood!”
Faye said that Rand had all the boxes finished up and ready for delivery by the end of March.
The Army veteran who retired last year from a 20-year career with Columbia Forest Products is constantly “puttering.”
“When I go into my shop, I don’t go in with the intention of working, I go in there to putter and relax,” Rand said.
The result of his puttering were 24 excellently crafted keepsake boxes of three different variations that Rand and his wife, Becky, brought to the Veterans’ Home on April 3.
Faye and the Rands brought the boxes to each room for veterans to chose from, and while Rand is very modest about his work, he received an abundance of thank-you’s from the Home’s appreciative residents.
The most common thing he was told while delivering the boxes, aside from ‘thank you,” was that he did nice work.
“I don’t think that I do nice work, I just do the best I can,” he explained. “A lot of times I’ll make something just to see if I can make it.”
Of course, once Rand makes something new one of his kids wants to take it home with them — and then his other two kids want one of their own.
“I’ve been doing that my whole life,” he said jokingly of his three kids, who now live in Fort Fairfield, Washburn and Presque Isle.
The idea of creating these keepsake boxes came after Rand attended a VA meeting.
“I said you’ve got three different styles, come to Caribou and you’ll be an asset to everybody,” Faye explained.
With the hallways dotted with smiling residents admiring Rand’s handiwork, the gifts were clearly well received.
“I might try to make some more of these next year if I can get some wood — I got all the wood to make these boxes from Columbia Forest Products,” he said.
Each of the different style of boxes he makes requires intricate detail and cutting very small, precise pieces of wood — it’s tedious work but Rand says he likes tedious work.
“The harder it is, the more I like it,” he said.
