OHS students finish up wooden canoe before raffle

by Angie Asam, Staff Writer

Due to low numbers in a wood shop class as well as a shorter block period, teacher Mark Grant and his students have worked on a wooden canoe that will be raffled off Sept. 5 at the Millersburg Bump and Run.

According to Grant, the driving force on the crew has been senior Trenton Lupu while Shaun Curtis and Tyler James have been around through the duration to make up what Grant would call the primary three working on the project, which started last October. ?The class ended up being a very small class, so I asked them if instead of making a bunch of individual projects would they be interested in working on a group project. They said sure,? Grant said.

?We talked about the school budget issues and I said why not do something like this and raffle if off as a moneymaker? They all liked the idea so we went ahead with it,? said Grant.

Because the class was a shortened block the crew had only about 45 minutes per day to spend working on the canoe. Originally they had planned on having the canoe ready to be raffled off at Onaway?s Fourth of July celebration, however, the raffle license took time and the crew ended up taking the month of June off from working on it.

?We started out trying to make it out of local white cedar, it didn?t work out. We got quite a way into the project and realized our strips just weren?t going to work. We ended up having to buy strips which are western red cedar, whic

h allowed us to use full length strips and made the project a little nicer,? said Grant.

The crew has been busy working on getting the canoe finished so it can be raffled off in a couple of weeks. They have some finishing touches to do before it can be sanded and varnished in order to be completed.

Tickets for the raffle are $5 and are available from Mark Grant or any of the kids working on it. Those interested in tickets can call Grant at (989) 733-9866. Tickets will also be available at the bump and run Sept. 5 as well as at the wrestling fundraiser softball tournament this Saturday in Onaway.

Not only have the students had to work hard on the project during school, but they have had to give up some of their summer vacation to work on the canoe, and it is coming together nicely.

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