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GARDEN GROVE, Calif. () — There is a unique toy store in Garden Grove, but even more special is the man making the toys.
Harold Yoak, or Hal, is 100 years old. Everything he creates is made completely by hand.
Hal’s workspace is filled with tools, paint and wood. He is surrounded by colorful toys: anything from dancing ducks, toy cars and helicopters to celebratory noisemakers and dinosaurs on wheels.
“I used to make cabinets for kitchens and things like that. I would do repair work. I did an awful lot of repair work. But like you say, you get tired or you get old. One of the two,” Hal said.
His career in woodworking began in Ohio, where he was born.
He also served in the Navy in the 1940s, taking part in Operation Magic Carpet, helping repatriate millions of American servicemen after World War II.
He then became a schoolteacher, and when he moved to California, he continued his teaching career at Pacifica High School.
Through every era of his life, he created works of art with wood.
“Before retirement, I made canes. I’d tell people to collect pictures and the resume of their lifetime, the highlights of their lifetime. Then I’d carve their history in the cane or the walking staffs. I did that for years. I sent them all over the world,” Hal said.
Now, he focuses on toys.
This time of year, every weekend, his garage workshop is converted into a Christmas storefront open to the public.
He is having his busiest year ever.
“I’ve got over probably $125 in just tips,” Hal said.
Over the past century, he has experienced love.
“There’s our wedding picture,” Hal said, pointing to a photo in his home. “She was beautiful. I can’t imagine how I ever got her.”
He’s also dealt with loss.
“She, in 2014, she died,” Hal said of his wife.
Through it all, and every day, he finds himself in his garage.
“365 days a year, I’ll probably be sitting out here making toys,” Hal said.
If you ask Hal to share the secret to his long and fulfilling life, he’ll make a joke.
“I wish I knew. I’d sell it!” Hal said as he laughed.
He knows that the secret likely lies within the four walls of his workshop and in every detail of his designs.
“I sit out here in the cold in the wintertime and the hot in the summer. It just keeps me going,” Hal said.
He sells gifts that give even more to their maker.
“I like doing it. I really do,” Hal said.
Hal’s garage will be open for business one more weekend this holiday season on Dec. 20 and Dec. 21. Stop by anytime between 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.
His address is 11382 Paloma Ave. in Garden Grove.
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