Toy making a family tradition

The miles: 2,973. That's how far Montana is from the North Pole according to an internet search. Now, depending on what you believe, there may or may not be elves at the North Pole who make toys. That can be debated for a very long time. What cannot be debated, is the fact that Sanders County has its very own "elf" toy maker.

Gayle Seekins, of Trout Creek, made his very first toy out of wood in 1986. He was working for a company that did work for the space shuttles and the B1 bombers, and would draw his ideas on scratch paper during breaks and free time. He began making toys for his kids and branched out a little by making toy, wooden play sets for his kids' classrooms when they were little. He continued to make toys on a very limited basis while his kids grew up. He did not begin making wooden toys on a regular basis until three years ago when he and his wife, Kathy, moved to their property in Trout Creek to retire. Now retirement has meant toy making and toy making has meant many smiles.

"I enjoy making toys for kids because it brings smiles to their eyes," Seekins said. All of his toys are original. There are no kits involved. The fenders are from scratch. The bumpers are from scratch. The ladders are from scratch. The entire rubber band gun is from scratch. Yes, the wheels, too, are from scratch. The toys are entirely authentic and due to the grains in the wood and the nature of the toys being homemade, no two are exactly alike. Every toy is unique. Seekins does make the toys in quantity because making individual toys would take forever if he had to switch his tools and equipment for every single toy. For example, on his production "line" now, he is making the 2023 model of his 2021 cement truck. Depending on the number of cement trucks he makes, he will make all of the different parts at once. The wheels will all get made at one time. The mixing barrels will all get made at one time. This process continues with each part. He then puts all of the pieces together and voila! A toy is complete. The process is more complicated than it sounds.

All of his toys start out as a block or piece of wood. In fact, Seekins' favorite shirt sums up his belief. His shirt says "There is no scrap wood, just pieces not yet used." He uses many different types of wood, including fir, teak and oak. One of his newest creations is a jeep that pulls a canon that is operational and shoots marbles. The jeep has at least three different kinds of wood on it. He also uses very few nails and screws and many of his toys do not have any in them. The jeep has a screw for the radiator cap so when they are used, it is usually for creativity and not construction. Seekins and his wife Kathy also use vegetable oil to "finish off" each toy. They use vegetable oil because kids, especially little ones, like to put toys in their mouths. The vegetable oil is a lot safer option than stains and varnishes.

Seekins' favorite toy to make is the Fighter Aircraft. His dad made it back in the 1980s and Seekins still has his dad's first one. He still makes them, mostly the same way, but he has adjusted the propeller build on it. But like some of the other toys and how it is in real life, he updates some models of the toys, like the cement truck. The toy that takes Seekins the least amount of time to make is the rubber band gun. There are two toys that take him the longest amount of time to make: the firetruck and the train. The firetruck is beyond amazing. The ladder on top raises and lowers and the ladders on the sides come off. It is also one of his toys that uses multiple types of wood. The train has eight train cars with it and each train car is different. It, too, is absolutely incredible to see.

Seekins makes other items such as games, stick horses, doll high chairs, doll cribs, little rocking chairs for young kids to sit in, puzzles and much more. He can and does do some special request items as well. Everything he builds starts off as a piece of wood. "Firewood comes from the forest to warm our homes," Seekins said. "Our toys come from the forest to warm a child's heart." After spending some time with this real-life toy making "elf," truer words could not be spoken. The gift Seekins has of building homemade wooden toys and working with wood began years ago in his family. His grandfather used to build houses with hand saws, hammers, hand planes, hand drills and the like. Seekins has many of his grandfather's old tools but mostly keeps them for special occasion uses. Being able to see the smiles and joy that a toy brings a child is what keeps him building them. Seeing these homemade toys brings a smile to adults as well. Seekins and his wife attend different craft shows around the area.