4% - Sunday, December 12, 1993 ~ North Shore News

Tinkerers needed for fantastic,
gooty, and enthralling machine

CALLING ALL eives.
Actually, that’s not really
the case. Who I'm calling
are some rather particular
elves,

THE VINTAGE YEARS

They'll qualify if they are,
well, mature, meaning they
have spare time, and also if
they have a lively. imagination
and a sense of fun... -

A tall order? I don’t think
so. There are pockets of such

- chaps all over this North

» Shore, And it’s such a special
project. Listen.

A man named Harry
Burgess died a few months -
ago: He’d had a full, rich life
- because he was a geiierous-

hearted man with the kind of .

‘mind that loved a puzzle.

He invented stuff, some of it
- to do with his work — he was
‘a machinist by trade —- and

» _ some for-his own amazement.

«.. He and his wife had.a nice
-Httle house in Lynn Valley.
‘Bought it years ago and had
enough room to keep chickens
d to tinker...
“He founda use for’
everything — you know men

“ylike’that, and his family and -

-; friends and certainly the
‘neighbors all knew enough to
. Show him before they threw’
anything out!

‘An later. years his wife devel- 7

oped arthritis and was unable.
to negotiate.the stairs down to
-his workshop in the basement...

They both hated that, so he .

contrived a device, using a

ALL 1993 SUBARU LEGACIES
IN STOCK WILL BE SOLD AT _
DEALER INVOICE UNTIL DEC.24th.

water-pump and a cylinder,
and cut a hole in the kitchen
floor so she could still come
down to help him play with his
inventions. .

The laundry was down there
too, eh?

When she died he simply
had to find more ways to keep
himself busy, so he set to work
on what was to become his
Jolly Ball phenomenon.

And that.is the burden of
my refrain.

He’d seen something in Ed-
monton Mall that triggered

_ this vision. To describe it to

you is a bit of a challenge, but

think of a large piece of

plywood, at least 10 feet long,
six to seven feet high.

Now think of an installation
of baskets, trays, pulleys,
tracks, both vertical and hor-
izontal, of a dinky water-
wheel festooned with tiny,
Christmas lights.

- Add a toy truck and 16 red
billiard balls.

Look — there’s the pump
from a discarded vacuum
cleaner, the little cups on the
water wheel are ice-cube

. moulds, he used plastic kitchen

funnels for flippers — you
wouldn’t believe.
On the back side of the
plywood you’ve got the works.
There is electrical circuitry
going up and down and side-
ways; don’t look at me, I
don’t know what it does. All 1
know is that when the juice is
applied those 16 balls start the
liveliest careers you can imag-
ine.

They go across, they go up
and down, they reach the

,,water wheel and set it spin -

ning, they plop into the
loading-end of the truck which
immediately heads for the up-
per reaches to make delivery,
and by.this time you’re
laughing so hard you don’t
know what’s going on.

It’s just a fantastic, goofy,:
enthralling machine.
* But right now it’s under
threat of. extermination. |

The little old house has been

“sold, you see. The family

members are cleaning out the
rooms, but nobody can take

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“NOT VEHICLE SHOWN, STOCK #52084

44 But right now
it’s under threat of
extermination. 99

on the Jolly Balls. That’s what
he called it. And nobody can
bear to think of its being
trashed.

Science World longed to
have it. It cries out for
children around it. But it
would never pass their
Stringent standards.

But what fun it would be for
Children’s Hospital or Canuck
Place, a constant source of
wonder and amusement.

This is where those elves
come in.

It needs some sprucing up,
to start. Since Harry Burgess
died it’s had some pushing
around and of course no one’s
visited it daily to keep it up to
snuff.

No member of the family
has the space for it, and their
fervent wish is that a few peo-
ple with love in their hearts
will take on the job of
grooming.

That’s how the idea arose of,
five or six elders full of know-
ledge and with the tinker-time,
who would truck it off to:a
workspace somewhere and get
it going smoothly again. Then
it could be offered to a suit-
able site.

We're all hoping that some-
one will have a solution, will
know just the place for its in-
terim restoration, will be able
to gather the needed help.

‘And, of course, there are the
new owners of the house, who
are being very helpful in that’

‘they aren’t pressing for oc-

cupancy, but would be happy -

to get the “all clear’’ signal.
Think we can pull it off? ’

You can surely call me at

984-6246, or you can calla

family member, the chap who
showed me this extraordinary
entertainment machine. Ron’s
number is 980-1604.

Oh, E hope you’ll rally
round. ©

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