"Woodpecker" Jack O'Hara in his workshop with grandson Kevin Zorbach.

When a sonogram revealed her unborn child had a congenital deformity of the foot, Mary Zorbach wasn't sure what lay ahead. Would the condition, known as clubfoot, affect the quality of her child's life?

Through a friend of a friend, she connected with Paul Sponseller. The director of pediatric orthopedics quickly set her mind at ease, and a few days after her son Kevin was born, Sponseller, who lived close by, came to the house to put on the tiny casts that would straighten his feet. Ever since, says Zorbach, Sponseller's care has been remarkably personal and supportive.

"Dr. Sponseller was so reassuring. He really touched our family, and we wanted to give something back," she says. So a few years ago, with the holiday season approaching, Zorbach called the doctor's office and asked if her father, Jack O'Hara, could drop off a few gifts for patients at the Children's Center.

O'Hara is a member of a venerable Baltimore-area woodworking club known as the Woodpeckers. Ever since the 1950s, this group of about 25 amateur wood-workers, all retired professionals, has been getting together for periodic visits to local woodworking businesses, demonstrations and talks. Around this time of year, the Woodpeckers are working away in their individual workshops to craft toys for needy children.

In mid-December, they gather at one member's house with all their wares. There are wooden trucks and race cars, pint-size chairs and benches, doll cribs and jewelry boxes, puzzles, pull-toys and more. Some are brightly painted, others sport their natural finish. The toys are stamped with a tiny woodpecker, the club's logo. Then, the men deliver them to organizations like House of Ruth, St. Vincent's Center and Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital. Several years ago, because of his grandson's experience, says O'Hara, "We added Hopkins to the list."

O'Hara says he has been handy most of his life, ever since an aunt declared he would need to develop a trade since he was not "college material." After graduating from Penn State with a degree in engineering, putting his six children through college, and retiring as a manufacturer's representative in electronics, O'Hara pursued his hobby in a big way. He has built Shaker-style furniture, sheds, decks, bookcases, bars-even the den and garage on his gracious home in Phoenix, Md. "Especially when I was working, it was calming," he says. "You forget about everything; you're totally absorbed."

Last year, the Woodpeckers made about 240 toys for children throughout the Baltimore area. This year, young patients at Hopkins can rest assured that just before Christmastime, Santa will head for the Children's Center with a big bag of old-fashioned toys, each one made with the hands and sent from the heart.

- ABS