Saturday, December 2, 2023 | Country Acres South • Page 1 PRSRT STD ECR U.S. POSTAGE PAID PERMIT #278 Madelia, MN 522 Sinclair Lewis Ave Sauk Centre MN 56378
SOUTH S OUTH H Saturday, December 2, 2023
Focusing on Today’s Rural Environment
Volume me 2, Editio Edition on 13
Labors of love PHOTOS BY AMY KYLLO
Tim Monson (left) and Cameron Norton stand Nov. 16 by handmade wooden toys for sale at LARK Toys in Kellogg. The pair craft the wooden toys they sell at their store.
Monson, Norton share their passion for woodworking through toys BY AMY KYLLO | STAFF WRITER
KELLOGG — Stepping into the toy-making shop at LARK Toys is like entering a modern, branch office of Santa’s workshop. The smell of sawdust fills the air, and instead of two elves, Tim Monson and Cameron Norton work craft out of wood.
The two rooms of the shop are neat yet feel comfortably lived in. On one wall hangs patterns for the toys. Stacks of pine lumber lie on the floor, and sprinkled throughout the workshop are toys on a shelf,
in a corner or standing on a work counter being assembled, providing a festive feel. Monson and Norton work together to make all the inhouse-made wooden toys sold at LARK Toys in Kellogg. “It’s a labor of love,” Monson said. “Just to be able to do something like this every day ... is amazing. ... There’s many different jobs I could have done throughout the years. I couldn’t leave (LARK
(Bottom) Handmade pull toys — including this smiling dragon, paddled canoe and pink pig are on display Nov. 16 at LARK Toys in Kellogg. Tim Monson and Cameron Norton decide what toys they will make each week according to the store’s inventory.
Toys) and that’s the bottom line.” Every item Monson and Norton make is handcrafted from start to finish. They make wooden blocks, puzzles, push toys, little toys which include animals, vehicles, tractors, airplanes, trains, toy sets and the long-standing pull toys. “Everything that gets cut out here is by hand, and everything that gets put together is by hand,” Monson said.
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COUNTRY: Watch for the next edition of Country Acres on December 16, 2023
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