Ricky Hatfield, 47, of Geneseo is
taking “Tool Time” to new heights, with
some sky-high home improvements for his
feathered friends.
“I watch Home Improvement with Tim Allen
every night, and it gives me ideas,”
Ricky explains. “When Hilltop Industries
started selling birdhouses, I decided to
customize one. I thought it would look
nice.”
Ricky is among approximately 350 people
with disabilities employed through
Hilltop Industries, the vocational
rehabilitation division of The Arc of
Livingston-Wyoming. He works 5 days a
week at the sheltered workshop on State
Street in Mt. Morris, NY, where he assembles
components for a variety of customers.
New among the products assembled at
Hilltop Industries: bluebird houses,
which The Arc sells for $10 each, with
profits going back to the agency. Houses
are typically sold in a bare-bones state
for customers to paint and decorate. But
in typical “Tool Time” fashion, Ricky
felt the need to equip his bird house
with “more power!”
Ricky's modified birdhouse is complete
with a front porch of sorts – birds can
perch themselves on a small pole that he
connected just under the entrance hole.
The improvements, which included
significant woodcutting and drilling,
took Ricky about 2 weeks to complete.
Ricky did all of the handiwork by
himself, using standard tools that he
borrowed from a neighbor. Because he is
in a wheelchair and has limited use of
his arms, Ricky's workbench was a small
Plexiglas table that attaches to, and
wraps around, his chair. “It was a
tricky process,” Ricky explains. “I'm
good with tools, but I took advantage of
the good weather and did a lot of the
work outdoors. That way, stuff wouldn't
get all over.”
An admirer of Tim Allen for many years,
Ricky's tricked-out birdhouse is far
from his first custom-built gadget.
Others have included picture frames,
coat racks, cup holders, and one project
that Ricky is never without: a modified
joystick to control his wheelchair. The
stick, which resembles a classic Pac-Man
controller, is an ingenious combination
of a standard shaft topped by a golf
ball. “The golf ball is easy to grip,
which makes it easier to move the
chair,” Ricky explains.
Back to the topic of birdhouses, Ricky's
next slate of home improvements includes
painting his creation blue and mounting
it to a post. “After that, I'm going to
put it outside my bedroom window where I
can always see it,” he says. He is also
contemplating working on more
birdhouses, with the possibility of
donating them to a local hospital.
To purchase a birdhouse of your own to
customize, contact Hilltop Industries
Sales Manager Ted Montanye at (585)
658-3311 or
tmontanye@lwarc.org.
