Landon's Desk
By: Louisa Paugstat, BB2C Marketing Intern
Cheryl Olcott had a dream to create a desk for her ten year old grandson, Landon, that would be able to showcase his collection of Hot Wheels. Inspired by a magazine article in which Million Dollar Wheels, Bruce Pascal, has a desk that displays his priceless cars; when Cheryl’s grandson saw this, he was excited. After conversations about education and future career opportunities in the car industry, Cheryl told her grandson she would make him a desk, a place to do his schoolwork and be surrounded by the things he loved, his cars.
When Cheryl started this project, she didn’t know where to take her ideas and didn’t know where to find the equipment to make it come to life. She needed a place to purchase the glass and a place to create the desk. She found the Makerspace when she was talking with a local auto parts salesman about the glass. He suggested the BB2C Makerspace for Cheryl when she explained her desk idea and encouraged her to get in touch with us.
Cheryl was able to meet with our Makerspace Director, Jared, who listened to her project idea and the story behind it. Cheryl's big question though, was, “Is it possible to make the desk?" The response was yes! Jared offered design suggestions, they settled on a final design and a work schedule, and then Cheryl started looking for wood for the desk. Ultimately, the wood came from trees that grew on Landon’s grandfather’s farm, adding to the very special history behind this desk.
No great project comes to life without challenges though, including this one. Initially, the people Cheryl brought her idea to were not encouraging. However, when she brought it to Jared, he said it was “not only possible but he was excited to work on it”. Another challenge she faced was getting the glass pieces cut to fit the desk how she needed them. Murray glass ended up being the one to undertake this task; they were helpful and excited about this project.
Cheryl told us the best parts about doing this project were “the smile on Landon’s face when he realized that he has a desk that can be used as a display for his car collection, and something he can do his homework on” as well as being able to get to know Jared and all the wonderful opportunities that the Makerspace provides.
Cheryl said that Landon is excited to get all his cars organized on his desk. He has decided to organize them by color, and because of the way the desk is designed Landon can continue to add to his Hot Wheels collection by adding glass to the “leg” columns.
She shared, "I highly recommend the BB2C Makerspace to others throughout our community. Anyone interested in completing a wood project would be inspired by the friendly, helpful, and encouraging environment”. She concluded by saying that she wanted to thank Jared for his encouragement and the fact that he is “extremely talented and helpful”, and she wanted to give special appreciation to her husband Rick for his support for this project.
Have a creative idea for something you would like to bring to life? Contact us at makerspace@bb2careers.org or stop in to learn how we can help make your project happen.