Granddaughter, grandfather pair construct magazine rack for 4-H
When Allie Scott, 11, brought home her assignment for a 4-H Club project, grandfather Roger Long was ready and willing to help. In fact, it was a project with which he was already pretty familiar.
“It’s the exact same project that he helped our daughter build when she was in the 4th grade, and she’s 30 years old,” grandmother Ginger Long said.
Allie, a Russellville Middle School student, often helps her grandfather with woodworking projects, so building a magazine rack for 4-H was hardly an intimidating assignment – a project for which she was one of only two students in Franklin County to sign up. She knew Roger would be willing and able to give her hand.
“First he had to cut the wood, and then we had to assemble it, and then after that I sanded it,” Allie explained. Roger used boards planed from a cherry tree he cut down in his back yard a few years ago, and the two worked on the construction in his workshop behind the Longs’ house.
“Then we puttied the holes and spray painted it a few times,” Allie added.
“I couldn’t let her run the big saw, but she did the rest of it,” Roger said. They made it in just a few hours.
The magazine rack is just the latest in a long line of projects, like a doll bed Allie and Roger made. His skill is evidenced throughout his home, which is full of furniture he made, and in fact he built the house itself.
Allie is the oldest of seven grandchildren, and all of them get the opportunity at one time or another to help Roger with projects in his workshop. Nearby the workshop is a playhouse Roger built for his grandchildren – it’s complete with electric lights and power outlets. Inside the workshop, one room is dedicated to the granddaughters’ use, where they spend many hours painting and decorating spare bits of wood Roger cuts and sands off for them.
“We build all the time,” Roger said. Allie enjoys building together, she said, because of the time she gets to spend with her grandfather. “We’re used to doing something every day,” he added.
Allie is the daughter of Miranda Kimbrough.
