Open-nest policy: Retired man sells birdhouses from his garage

Sherwood Park's John Paton has raised $11,000 for charity by selling homemade birdhouses. CTV News Edmonton's Nahreman Issa reports.

A retiree is ‘beak’-oning new friends with a project that helps him both pass the time and build new bonds.

John Paton, 80, builds and sells birdhouses. He then donates all the proceeds to local charities. But he only sells first-come, first-serve, cash-only to anybody who happens to stop by his open garage on his quiet Sherwood Park street.

After all, the early bird gets the worm.

“I get to meet so many beautiful people by just leaving my garage door open and playing at something I really like,” he told CTV News Edmonton. Building the birdhouses keeps his hands mobile and his mind sharp, he says.

Paton began building birdhouses for friends and family during the pandemic, then opened it up to neighbours.

“Pretty well everybody in this whole area is saturated with birdhouses now,” he said.

He says he’s raised more than $11,000 for charities, including the Robin Hood Association, so far.

“I had a lady come (the other day) and ask me how much a birdhouse was. I said $70. She gives me $100 and says, ‘It’s going to charity anyway, so you know,’” he recalled with a laugh.

His wife, Elaine, also makes quilts for charity, but “the last thing she wants is publicity,” he joked.

“She just keeps me straight.”

While the new friendships he builds from his open-door policy are meaningful, there are some stories he wants to keep to himself, including lengthy family and personal tales he says would “bore” passersby.

“I used to be a trapper. I thought I was going to make a million dollars until I found out animals die, so I quit that,” he said, for example.

He also spent time in the Navy.

Paton says he just likes stories. Even if you don’t have $70 to spare, he’s always open for a chat in his quiet neighbourhood while he tinkers away at his project.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Nahreman Issa