March 26, 2009 The Marlborough Enterprise/Hudson Sun Page 3

LEARNING CLOSE UP: BOB LEDUC

Ace woodworker inspires kids’ creativity
Anti-bullying Job: Proprietor of Wooden
Toys & Crafts.
Time on the job: 17 years.

program gets Former life: Welder

Family: Wife Marie, three
children, four grandchildren
(and one on the way.)

results Web site: woodentoysand-

[Link]
Phone: 508-485-6992
By Paul Crocetti other people have said it,”
STAFF WRITER
Mackenzie Gibson said.
MARLBOROUGH - A presen- Renee Chicco said she has no- MARLBOROUGH – Bob
tation on bullying at one of the ticed name-calling - an example of Leduc once toiled as a welder
city's schools Friday paid immedi- abuse in the show. before he found his true calling:
ate dividends. The girls learned that there are
various ways to get involved with helping children make wooden
Twice on Friday, a group of boys toys with their own hands, from
used what they learned and report- a bullying situation.
“I would definitely stand up for kits. He put his welder's torch
ed a bullying incident to the staff, down 17 years ago and never
said Laura Mosman, assistant my friend differently,” Amy Saun-
ders said. looked back.
principal of grades 6 and 7 at the
Grades 4-7 School. Mosman said she was pleased Over the years, Leduc has
“We were able to address some that the girls found the show real- worked with amazing number
things that we might not have istic. of area children – traveling to
been able to before,” Mosman “I think that's difficult any time school systems in Littleton,
PHOTO BY GERRI YOUNG
said. you manufacture a scenario,” Framingham, Newton, Welles-
Bob Leduc, right, helps Marlborough’s Mark Merrill and his daughter Samantha, 10, with a marble run made
Deana's Educational Theater, Mosman said. ley, Watertown, Boston, and from wood. See page 10 for more photos inside the toy shop.
based in Stoneham, performed the During the lively post-perfor- even Windham up in New
Hampshire. But for at least part scrap wood for his kits. He What do children learn just can't get with plastics. Fi-
shows to sixth- and seventh-
graders. The troupe performed
mance discussion, many girls
raised their hands when asked if
bullying happens at school.
of the week, he can be found at
Wooden Toys & Crafts, his
prefers the softer woods like
pine and poplar. But his cur-
Q.
kits?
from building your nally, with their extraordinary
creativity, these children can
“Girl Chat” for girls and “Step
quaint workshop at Trombetta’s rent inventory also includes The directions use the al- see immediately that they can
Up” for boys.
“Girl Chat” focused on three
girls - a bully, the girl she picks on,
Bullying can cause people to
feel bad about themselves and
even commit suicide, members of
Farm at 655 Farm Road in
Marlborough.
several impressive sheets of
California redwood, more
A. phabet to help kids match
up the pieces. For example, I
work with wood, they can
make it into whatever they
and someone caught in the mid- the audience said. The kits, which Leduc makes than 70 years old, that had tell them to make the two "a’s" want.
dle. The bully made fun of the Most people are "bystanders" himself, range from trucks and been used to fence off flower kiss each other. The girls like
girl's wardrobe, physical appear- and have the power to stop bully- cars, to chipmunks and lions, beds. that, but it makes the boys
How do the kids inspire
ance, soccer play and poor family.
The girl in the middle, or "the by-
ing, the performers said. Their
suggestions included standing up
even to a representation in wood
of Fenway Park. A kit for a
Recently Leduc hosted a
birthday party for 11-year-old
laugh. When you run out of
letters, the whole project is Q. When
you?
these youngsters
stander," originally tried to be
friends with the bully because she
for friends and telling teachers
about incidents.
"Time-Out Chair" is guaranteed
to impress even the youngest,
Lexi Ryan of Southborough.
Lexi and her friends were sit-
done.
A. look at a block of wood,
they don't see the block at all.
was popular. In the end, though, "It's your decision whether you tantrum-prone toddlers (Leduc ting on upside-down paint
want to put up with this," said What it is about wood They brush right past that.
she told the bully off, and she and
the abused girl rekindled a friend-
ship.
Meaghan Willis, one of the per-
formers. "It's in your hands. You
said the chairs are sturdy
enough for adults). Children can
buckets of ancient vintage, as
they worked with amazing in- Q. that children find so
endlessly fascinating?
They see the potential for turn-
ing that plain block of wood
also work with rougher wooden tensity on their chosen kits.
can stop it." Sometimes it's just the into a truck, a tank, an airplane,
After the presentation, a group
of sixth-grade girls said they liked
that the show was realistic.
Paul Crocetti can be reached at
508-490-7453 or
shapes, which Leduc sells by
the pound.
Some of these children were
still hammering on the simple A. smell of the wood, espe-
cially as you work with it. And
Fenway Park, whatever. I never
cease to be amazed at the way
In the best New England tra- kits.
“The way they said it is the way pcrocett@[Link]. dition of thrift, Leduc re-uses – Peter B. Young wood has a tactile feel that you they do that.

HOOPS FOR
HEART
Katie Boudreau, the Physi-
cal Education teacher at
Forest Ave Elementary
School in Hudson, and the
school’s student council re-
cently ran a fundraiser for
the American Heart Associ-
ation "Hoops For Hearts."
The tournament raised over
$2,000, and the students
had fun shooting hoops and
“hamming it up.”
COURTESY PHOTOS

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