Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Oct 25/02) - Some Fort Simpson residents have paid thousands of dollars for Gerry Wright's signs, but he hasn't pocketed a cent.

Gerry Wright puts the finishing touches on "The Blue Caboose," this year's sign for the annual firefighter's Burn Unit Dance. - Derek Neary/NNSL photo

Each year Wright devotes several evenings and weekends to create wooden masterpieces, many of which are proudly on display in businesses and homes around the community. Some of the classics include the Raven's Roost Saloon, Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater inside a pumpkin and a man playing the piano, which sits above the entrance to the Sub-Arctic bar.

The Mackenzie Queen paddle-wheeler, which fetched upwards of $1,200, took Wright more than 200 hours to perfect.

"When you get people bidding $1,000 on a sign it seems like you should give them more than a hunk of plywood," said Wright, who has also designed dozens of logos, including one for the Canadian Volunteer Fire Service Association.

His signs are auctioned off at the annual Fort Simpson Volunteer Fire Department's Burn Unit Dance. The proceeds -- as well as those from the dance's admittance fees, lassoing contest and beverage sales -- are donated to the Edmonton Burn Society, which also serves burn victims from the NWT.

As he toiled in his basement on Sunday afternoon, Wright was warmed by his pellet stove and he listened to some old radio shows on tape. He conceived of The Blue Caboose last year and has been collecting odds and ends ever since. The intricately designed caboose, which is modelled to scale from a photograph he found on the Internet, has more than 400 symmetrically placed, half-inch nails that serve as rivets. The hand brakes are actually coffee grinders from a doll house. Wright has ingeniously converted some shrinkwrap for electrical wires into yellow handrails for the caboose.

"As you can tell from looking at the basement, I save everything," he said while pulling out a motherboard from a computer which has provided him with numerous makeshift parts.

Having retired from active firefighting duty after 15 years, Wright has acted as the department's secretary over the past few years.

When he used to suit up, he wore number 7. So each year he hides a seven somewhere in his wooden sign, and some colleagues take great pleasure in being the first to find it, he noted.

The date of this year's Burn Unit Dance is still undetermined, but when it takes place The Blue Caboose will be ready for the rails.