Fire destroys shop, not spirit

NODAWAY — “We can’t just stop.”

After losing his workshop in a fire last week, 76-year-old retired Villisca teacher and local toy fixer-upper Vince Else isn’t about to give up what he started more than five decades ago.

“How do you stop when there is such a need?” Vince’s wife Judy asked. “When you’ve got all these families that come and depend on you, you’d hate to say no.”

The Else’s Share-A-Toy program began in 1959 when Vince was teaching Sunday school in Villisca. A small boy told Vince he didn’t expect to get any presents for Christmas. Upset by the thought of a child celebrating Christmas without gifts, Vince refurbished a toy tractor and gave it to the boy’s father.

“He came back the next Sunday all excited because he got a toy for Christmas,” Vince said. “The next year I had two kids and two toys, and the last three years I’ve had about 800 kids each year.”

Vince and Judy supply families in 30 communities across southwest Iowa, Nebraska and even Missouri with refurbished second-hand toys for Christmas. For every child, parents are allowed to take one “nice,” or more expensive toy, five books, three stuffed animals, a stocking stuffer, a few puzzles or games to do as a family, a candy cane and a piece of fruit donated by the FFA.  

This year, Vince said they have around 10,000 toys ready to be picked up at the Nodaway community center, which looks more like a toy store this time of year than a room typically reserved for town meetings and Friday night bingo.

All the toys, ranging from stuffed animals to puzzles and toy cars, are donated, along with some funds. While the Elses do pay out-of-pocket for many items, like batteries and plastic bags to store small toy pieces, Vince said their biggest contribution is time.

Judy is responsible for putting together all the puzzles and checking all the games to make sure all the pieces are there. She also washes all the stuffed animals and dolls in a specific process she’s perfected throughout the years that can take up to two weeks.

Vince cleans toys, along with replacing batteries and doing minor repairs.

“I may get up at 5 a.m. and go to the toy shop for a few hours, then eat breakfast and go back later,” he said. “I can’t even keep track, just all year round whenever I feel like it.”

Around five years ago, the Elses purchased their next-door neighbor’s house in Nodaway when she moved to a nursing home. It was then converted into a toy workshop with rooms dedicated for specific types of toys, kitchen drawers stocked with tools and batteries of varying sizes and a living room filled with storage bins containing miscellaneous game pieces or incomplete sets of Lincoln Logs.

Last Sunday evening, though, Vince lost his workshop in a fire started by an extension cord connected to an infrared heater that overheated. He said they suspect the fire started around 8:30 p.m., but they didn’t find out about it until after midnight when a neighbor alerted them. By that point it was too late.

The Villisca fire department attempted to put out the flames, but Vince, who used to be a volunteer firefighter, said it was just too far gone. They eventually had to let the fire burn itself out. Now, all that is left standing of the two-story home is the concrete basement frame.

Luckily, this year’s shipment of toys had already been moved to the community center for pickup. However, because the Elses’ operation is year-round, much of next year’s stock along with his tools were destroyed.

“We hardly ever keep cleaned toys in the shop; as soon as a few boxes are ready, we take them to a storage unit downtown,” Vince said. “We usually have a shipment ready to take in by January.”

As soon as word spread about the fire, local community members stepped forward to help.

Jessi Gaunt, her husband Andrew and sister-in-law Marcy Kier, created a Facebook group, Operation Rebuild, in an effort to garner community support to help the Elses rebuild.

“They take donations all year round and never ask any questions when people need toys,” Gaunt said. “We just had to do something.”

Gaunt, who was a former student of Vince’s and coworker of Judy’s at a Villisca nursing home, has used the program in the past for her own children.

“When I found out, I was in tears. I just couldn’t believe it,” she said. “They are such good people and do such wonderful work for the community.”

Gaunt said their ultimate goal is to help the Elses rebuild a new workshop in the same location. She, along with the more than 100 people connected with the Facebook group, hopes to get donations of building materials and time from local business owners and contractors.

Aside from the toy shop, Gaunt said they are also collecting toys to rebuild Vince’s stock. Donations of toys and money are being accepted at the HyVee in Red Oak, Red Oak Rehab, Red Oak Pizza Ranch and other locations. Donation bins are also located at Currin Day Care in Villisca, 213 S 18th St. in Clarinda and 702 Church St. in Shenandoah.

For the time being, toys will be stored at the Gaunt’s home and the Currin Day Care. For questions or more information on how to get involved in Operation Rebuild, contact Jessi Gaunt at 712-303-1295.