SpindleWorks

PAGE ONE
OF THREE

A Jack of Many Trades
by Debi Smith (Osborne)
The certificates hanging in his jewellery workshop declare Jack Vanderveen a goldsmith. When asked what his trade is, he says "...a jeweller".

The janitorial business, stained glass works, the RELIV sales, the cattle, the coffin-building, volunteering and boards that he sits on are sidelines, some that have grown to more than he can take on these days.
Jack at work in his shop
"I don't know yet what I want to do for a living when I grow up," Jack says with a boyish grin. Raising 6 children, all now living on their own except for one 16 year old son, didn't exactly give him time to sit and think about it.

Jack speaks with an accent that shows he has spent more of his 51 years in Holland than in Canada. After losing an office job in Holland, Jack was hired by a jeweller to sell goods, "...but when I came there I wanted to tinker around." Jack visited with other goldsmiths, gaining knowledge and ideas and took special classes in the field. But "Holland was too structured for Jack," says his wife Jenny. So in 1981, with 4 kids in tow, they moved to Smithers, where Barry Carter of Baron and Carter Jewellers hired him. After 3 years, Jack began working from his home, doing full-time repairs on glasses and jewellery.

The growing Vanderveen family - December 1999
In 1993, the Vanderveens moved to Houston, taking on a janitorial contract with the Christian school, a job he shares with his wife and one that he dearly loves. Jack again opened a jewellery shop in his home where, because of a growing need, his talents began to blossom into the more creative side of jewellery - designing.

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