RETIRED EDUCATOR CREATES AND DONATE S

Snellville man donates them to churches, temples, organizations.

Jon Saul son’ s Snell ville basement could be the Southern version of Santa’ s Workshop. He puts his woodworking skills to use, creating thousands of mostly one-of-a-kind toys and gifts. “I try to spread the joy,” said Saulson, are tired educator. “I like to see people smile.”

Jon Saulson’s Snellville basement could be the Southern version of Santa’s Workshop.

In a room about the size of a small bedroom, Saulson puts his woodworking skills to use, creating thousands of mostly oneof-a-kind toys and gifts.

In another, he stains the wooden animals, puzzles, games and figurines, wraps them and packs them in one of 130 large cardboard boxes for future delivery,

“I try to spread the joy,” said Saulson, a retired educator. “I like to see people smile.”

By December, Saulson, 70, will have donated more than 2,300 of his creations this year to area churches, temples and organizations, such as Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Jewish Family & Children Services and Goodwill of Atlanta.

Deputies with the Gwinnett County Sheriff ’s Office keep toys Saulson makes in their patrol cars to give out to children they meet, sometimes in trying circumstances, said Shannon Volkodav, the department’s spokeswoman.

“Jon has a heart of gold,” she said. “He doesn’t want to do it as a business. He doesn’t want to sell these creations for a profit. He genuinely has more joy giving them away.”

Born in Orlando, Florida, Saulson grew up in Miami Beach, Florida, where a junior high wood shop class instilled in him the skills and an interest in woodworking that have lasted a lifetime.

During a career that began as a classroom teacher, Saulson put his woodworking hobby to work for some of his students.

It was the mid-1970s, and he was working with children in DeKalb County who had severe autism and emotional problems.

Saulson began noticing that the students became mentally drained around midday.

“I thought: Why not get them to use their eyes and hands more?” he said.

Saulson decided he would teach the students woodworking, a skill that incorporates lessons in numbers, following stepby-step instructions, tools, colors, cooperation and much more.

“All the parents were for it,” Saulson said. “The kids enjoyed it, and they learned.”

The challenge was to convince the school administration to break away from the standard models of teaching, he said.

Once Saulson married and had daughter Jessica “Jes,” now 37, his hobby largely took a back seat to other things, and most woodworking he did related to home improvement projects. However, when Jes was 4 or 5, the two did eke out some time to escape to the basement to make some toys and “art” projects, he said.

Saulson has retired three times. The last time was in 2016, and it was then that he says “I really got into woodworking big time.”

He began by amassing 25 huge notebooks of potential creations: everything from birdhouses to toy trucks, boats and airplanes to unique wine bottle holders with animal motifs and animal mailboxes, puzzles, games and figurines.

“I flip through my notebooks, get an inspiration, and then I’m off to work,” he said.

Rarely will he make the same thing twice, unless he has a special request from a family member or organization.

“Typically, once made, the challenge is somewhat diminished,” Saulson said.

He usually works in his basement four to five hours a day, four days a week.

He makes most of his creations in one to three hours with stain, rarely paint, and screws or bolts but never nails. There are exceptions, of course. Two of his favorite creations — a polar bear rocker and a 3-in-1 rocking horse, high chair and desk

— each took about a week to draw, redesign, build and finish.

Wife Kathy Pittman never complains about the time or money that he spends, and it’s a lot of both, Saulson said. She even assists when he heads out to deliver his creations to any organization that asks, as well as to doctors, dentists, family and friends, and others he meets.

“I hate, hate, hate to receive,” Saulson said. “I did even as a child.”

Giving — and the joy it can bring — is much more pleasurable, he said.

For years, Saulson’s family and friends have urged him to create a website and sell his creations. He has balked at the idea.

“It turns it into a job, and I’m done — I think — with working,” Saulson said.

He does have an Instagram account, yesiwoodbyjon, and will occasionally sell his creations if specifically asked.

For instance, he once designed a Christmas ornament as a gift for a local business. The business owner loved it enough to pay him to make 100 just like it.

“Ouch. Never again will I make so many of the same thing,” he said. “Boring.”

PHOTOS BY PHIL SKINNER FOR THE AJC Jon Saulson sorts through boxes of his woodcraft creations in the basement of his Snellville home recently. He has donated loads of his creations to people and agencies that might need them for children and families they serve.