AT 99, BERT'S STILL ONE CRAFTY GUY.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
It's taken nearly a century, but Bert Wharmsby is finally going to see his name in the newspaper. ``Never been in one, never had any kind of recognition, but now I'm getting it at 100,'' Bert said Tuesday, laughing as he stood in his garage, putting the finishing touches finishing touches finish npl the finishing touches → der letzte Schliff finishing touches npl → ultimi ritocchi mpl on the 600 wooden Christmas ornaments Christmas ornaments are decorations (usually made of glass, metal, wood or ceramics) that are used to festoon a Christmas tree. Ornaments take many different forms, from a simple round ball to highly artistic designs. he makes every year for the employees of his son's company. It's long overdue OVERDUE. A bill, note, bond or other contract, for the payment of money at a particular day, when not paid upon the day, is overdue. 2. The indorsement of a note or bill overdue, is equivalent to drawing a new bill payable at sight. 2 Conn. 419; 18 Pick. , a little ink for this remarkable man born Jan. 1, 1904 - the same year President Teddy Roosevelt began carrying a Big Stick and police arrested a woman on Fifth Avenue in New York City New York City: see New York, city. New York City City (pop., 2000: 8,008,278), southeastern New York, at the mouth of the Hudson River. The largest city in the U.S. for smoking in an open car. Bert just returned last month from Alaska, where he went for a few weeks of salmon fishing with his 65-year-old son, Dave, who owns a business that oversees marketing and sales for cemeteries This is a list of famous cemeteries, mausoleums and other places people are buried, world-wide. It may never be fully completed or, depending on its its nature, it may be that it can never be completed. However, new and revised entries in the list are always welcome. nationwide. ``Dad was out on the water 10 hours a day and pulled in his limit, including a 28-pound king salmon,'' Dave said, sounding like it was no big deal. Father and son spend a lot of time together. Aside from two or three fishing trips a year, they go riding together on Dave's Gold Wing Honda touring motorcycle A touring motorcycle is a type of motorcycle designed for long-distance touring and heavy commuting. Although any motorcycle can be used to tour with, manufacturers have brought specific models designed to address the particular needs of these riders. at least once a month. ``We take seven-hour drives, and dad sits on the back,'' Dave said. ``I tell him if he's tired I'll stop. He always says he's fine, but if I'm tired it's OK to stop. ``He's a real character, my dad,'' Dave says. Yeah, he is. Bert cooks, cleans, does the laundry and mows his own lawn every week, too. Fred Lenert found out just how much a character Bert was a few years back while visiting his daughter, Cali, who lives a few houses from Bert in Oak Park. ``Every time I visited her, I'd see this old guy in his open garage working with all these power drills and tools,'' Fred said. ``One day I walked over to introduce myself and see what he was doing. Bert was running a band saw and shaper drill, making small wood crafts for his son to give to his employees at Christmas. ``For the last 15 years, he'd been spending seven months a year in that garage every day making 600 to 700 of them,'' Fred said. ``When he told me he was 98 I didn't believe him. He pulled out his wallet and showed me his driver's license Noun 1. driver's license - a license authorizing the bearer to drive a motor vehicle driver's licence, driving licence, driving license license, permit, licence - a legal document giving official permission to do something . Now, he's turning 100, and showing no signs of slowing down.'' Bert doesn't know what all the fuss is about. He may have retired from Beatrice Foods Co. in 1970 as sales director for the dairy products dairy products dairy npl → produits laitier dairy products dairy npl → Milchprodukte pl, Molkereiprodukte pl division, but that was just retiring from a job, not life. ``You gotta got·ta Informal Contraction of got to: I gotta go home. keep active and the mind working to make it,'' he says. ``Figuring the specs (SPECificationS) The details of the components built into a device. See specification. on those wood crafts, and then going out and making 600 of them every year helps do that for me.'' Yeah, that and something else, says his former neighbor Ada Horton, who asked Bert a few years back what the secret was to a long life. ``Bert said it helped to have a small glass of wine with his lunch every day,'' she said, laughing. Wine, work, what's the difference? Whatever it takes, Bert's found it. ``Most old gents when their wives pass away just kind of give up,'' said Dave, who sees a lot of them in his business. ``Dad went through seven dreadful years with my mom's Alzheimer's before she passed away in 1990. He didn't give up; he bounced back.'' At the Christmas gathering for his employees every year, the most popular guy at the party is his father, Dave says. ``They can't wait to see what he's made for them,'' he said. ``His wood crafts have become collectibles.'' At the end of the night, Dave always hands the microphone to his father to say a few words. It's then that Bert tells everyone if there will be another year of wood crafts or this is the last. ``I'm debating now whether to do it again, or take to that rocking chair in the bedroom,'' Bert said, sitting in a living room filled with the mementos of a rich, full life. Watch out, I warn him. This is one of the downsides of being in the newspaper. It blows your cover. ``Nah,'' Bert said. ``I'm coming back for another year.'' Dennis McCarthy, (818) 713-3749 dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Bert Wharmsby works on wood Christmas ornaments in his Oak Park garage. He'll turn 100 years old on Jan. 1. Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion