Joiners take out prestige prizes

A Wanganui firm has shown it can take on the big boys and win after Rob O'Keefe Joinery in Heads Rd took out two premier awards at the annual Master Joiners Awards.
Company principal Rob O'Keefe won with his entry in the best use of imported timber section, and his 22-year-old apprentice Shanan Whitlock won the people's choice award, which was voted on by the 150 delegates at the awards evening in Rotorua last weekend.
Mr O'Keefe said he was "very happy" for Mr Whitlock's success but acknowledged his entry was "a bit tongue-in-cheek". His entry was the rosewood tray he made for his 1938 Chevrolet one-ton truck. He thinks the job took him about eight days.
Mr Whitlock's win in the apprentice section was for the window framing on the Whanganui Central Baptist Kindergarten in Wicksteed St.
"He did all the work himself with a bit of supervision. It involved both laminating the timber as well as steaming some sections to get the shapes he needed. He used processes that weren't all that well-known or used a lot these days."