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“Windsor man gets a kick out of wood working”
published in the "Windsor Now!"
Friday, July 20, 2007
There are no fences between neighbors in one Water Valley subdivision, and the children get to run freely from house to house playing in the sand boxes, on the swing sets and jungle gyms.
The Pientka's yard has a unique feature that all children are always eager to play on.
Windsor resident Mike Pientka has constructed a wooden teeter totter that was built for the entertainment of his children and their neighborhood friends, and each child has left their mark in the wood.
After spending more than 10 hours building the play structure with scrap wood and metal, Pientka has allowed all the children to play and more than 15 have signed their names on the base of the structure.
"You don't really see these in backyards," the 49-year-old said. "Just tried to add to the community. We wanted something different."
The idea of building the teeter totter started when Pientka was looking for a quality structure online and at different stores, and couldn't find anything he liked.
"I said I could do better then that. I've built many wooden toys for my kids. This was a little different scale," he said. "This is industrial duty. Stuff that you find online and in stores, it's pretty cheesy junk. This one's built like a tank."
Pientka, who is a mechanical engineer, said kids are playing on the teeter totter every day and each time they proudly show each other their written names.
"It's a little sense of ownership," he said. "They even knock on the door and say 'I have a new playmate, can they play?' You can fit almost every kid in the neighborhood on it," Pientka said.
The children have even learned a little bit about sharing as well.
"They've learned real quickly it's a sharing toy," he said. "It's a cooperation toy."
The teeter totter was not the first project Pientka has built for his children. Constructing toys like wood wagons began for his oldest daughter Ariana. Even house items like candle holders, cutting boards and candy dispensers have been constructed in his basement.
"It's stress relieving," he said. "After a long day in corporate America where everything is done under 100 reviews and it takes so long for progress, here you can just do it and build it."
"It's pretty darn neat," said Ariana about her father's work.
The best advice Pientka can give for other people who'd like to construct hand-made toys is to pay attention to detail.
"Pay attention to the finishing you use," he said. "A lot of finishings are not something you want your kids to put in their mouth."
Pientka looks to build a merry-go-round next and is even looking to sell his blue prints to other individuals who may be interested in his works.
Breakout: Checkout Mike Pientka's work at www.original-approach.com or contact him at (970) 222-7006.
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