ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, February 26, 1996 TAG: 9602260074
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WESTLAKE CORNER
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
Bill Gee decided to blast some Newfoundland sea songs Sunday.
Gee, a retired Navy man from Vinton, was sitting in a metal chair near the busy intersection of Virginia 122 and 616 in Franklin County, near Smith Mountain Lake.
He was listening to his favorite folk songs on a cassette player and enjoying the first taste of spring weather to tantalize the region.
He was also glad to sell you one of his custom-made model wooden boats.
Gee, 65, suffered a stroke four years ago. His doctors suggested that he take up woodworking as therapy for his left arm, paralyzed as a result of his illness.
"My arm just dangled behind my back after the stroke," he said, giving a demonstration. "But now I can move it up over my head."
Gee attributes the improvement to his boat-building, which has turned into quite a passion. He says his living room is filled with them most of the time.
He uses nary a diagram. Every boat comes from his imagination.
"You can't screw up when you do things that way," he said. "The way it turns out is the way it's supposed to be - just like a good cook."
Gee builds schooners and dories, small fishing boats he used during his early years in the Navy when he was stationed in Newfoundland, Canada.
Gee grew fond of the boats there, and the music; he gives away a tape of his favorite tunes to everyone who buys one of his boats.
The songs include one about "squid gigging," a reference to harpooning sea mollusks.
Gee sings along - "Listen to this one," he says - and later tells tales each song brings to his memory.
There was the time he and a friend found themselves in the middle of the water on an iceberg the size of a couple of football fields.
They had to carry their dory across the ice, then row to land.
"Newfoundland is just a great place," he said.
LENGTH: Short : 44 linesby CNB