Woodworker Shows His Stuff in Harrison

AGASSIZ HARRISON OBSERVER (date) Written by: James Baxter Photo by: James Baxter
"Whoa!" The little girl can barely believe her eyes. She is standing on her tiptoes with arm outstretched, her tiny hand reaching up toward one of the best toys she has ever seen.
Her mom tells her not to touch, but the girl is already edging closer to the replica sailing ship, running her finger along the wood hull. Her eyes are like saucers as she examines the detailed rigging and follows the row of cannon barrels that peek from tiny windows, ready to unleash an imaginary barrage upon an invisible adversary.
The tall three-master, a work-in-progress, is more than a meter long and getting it's share of attention from kids and grown-ups alike. Visitors to the Harrison festival of the Arts are getting an eyeful of the vessel, which is resting on a work-table beside the beachfront sidewalk.
Craftsman Pierre J. Lachance, 41, is encouraging them to gather round and watch as he brushes the boat with a piece of sandpaper. He leans into the project, scraping away small imperfections while a few more people approach.
For Lachance, this is what it is all about.
"I love it because I like capturing the audience and it brings me a lot of joy to make other people happy," explains Lachance, who lives in Agassiz."It encourages me when they come and study the work.
"And the kids love it"
He has been building scale cars, trucks, motorcycles, boats and other items from wood since he was a young boy. He says he used to watch his grandfather build furniture and quickly discovered his own aptitude for wood working when he was 12. His passion for automobiles, and his father's profession as a stunt driver, served him as inspiration.
Working on and off over a 30-year period, Lachance has built about 14,000 vehicles from oak, alder, black walnut and other woods. A one-man assembly line, he has produced replica sports cars, vintage autos, Harley s, Indy racers, monster trucks...just about anything one can think of. He builds everything from scratch, gleaning his ideas from photographs, magazines or simply from his own imagination. "Limousines, Porsche's...I build anything and everything you can think of," he says."No one does what I do at the scale and speed and with so much variety."
Depending upon the size and complexity of each project, Lachance says he can spend from one day to several months crafting a vehicle. He displays his finished work at car shows, bike shows, shopping malls and special events.
He says it was appropriate that the ship, which was not modeled on any specific vessel, should be on display in Harrison since he has been building it over several years here in the village.
"It's being christened at the beach."
His primary shop is in Cloverdale, but he also keeps a part-time shop in Agassiz.
Lachance says he has had no formal woodwork training, a fascinating point given the remarkable detail of his products. He does however teach his skills to others.
The father of four has also donated several of his items as Christmas toys, and he is currently planning a line of posters and calendars. He says he does not do it for the money because it can't motivate him the way the public does.