'Keeps the mind active': How a 93-year-old World War II veteran found a new passion for design
A 93-year-old World War II veteran is the talk of his retirement home because of his talent for creating.
About five years ago, Bert Masson starting turning old cardboard boxes into intricate model buildings and ships.
“It was something to do, really. A pastime,” Masson said.
Among his creations are the Saskatchewan Legislature, the Eiffel Tower, a replica of Queen Victoria Estates where he lives, and a model of the ship he sailed during his time in the Navy called the SS Queens Park.
Bert Masson's model of Queen Victoria Estates. (Stefanie Davis / CTV News)
Each large design takes him about two months to build, sometimes working for full days at a time.
“First I’ve got to gather up some cardboard boxes and try to get reasonably big ones so you can get a clear piece of out them,” he explained. “Then you just go ahead and cut it up into whatever shapes you need and glue them together.”
He uses plaster to help bend the cardboard into the required shapes.
“It’s pretty hard to bend cardboard. You can bend it one way, but the other way is pretty hard to bend and make a curve,” he said. “I use a little bit of plaster to make it round.”
The first design he created was a small castle that came from his imagination. Each build got bigger and more intricate from there.
His final and biggest piece is the Eiffel Tower, which was made out of wood instead of cardboard. It even has a moving elevator inside.
Vivian Sawyer, a housekeeper at Queen Victoria Estates for 22 years, has watched Masson build some of his creations from the ground up.
“He’s got a lot of patience to do that,” she said. “It’s a nice pastime for him. It gives him something to do other than sitting in the room. I think a lot of seniors should find something like this to do. It keeps the mind active.”
She said other residents at Queen Victoria Estates are fascinated about the replicas and their intricate detail.
The replica builds aren’t Masson’s first time creating. He said he used to work on construction projects in his younger days. He also built his own house.
SS QUEENS PARK
One of Masson’s favourite creations is his replica of the SS Queens Park.
“I joined her around June 10, 1943,” he said. After some trial runs of the ship, he sailed on it until 1947. He was 15-years-old when he joined.
“I was in Sydney, Australia when the Japanese surrendered,” he explained.
He said the camaraderie on board the ship is something that he’s always remembered, and might be why he wanted to recreate it.
“You were always with some other men,” he explained. “You lived with them on the ship and you had to get along with everybody else or that’s a long way to swim.”
Years ago, he also built a 13.5 foot-long version of the Queens Park out of metal, complete with a remote control so he could put it in water.
Bert Masson's SS Queens Park replica (Stefanie Davis / CTV News)
He said many museums had been interested in it, but told him it was too big for their displays.
“It was always too big or too long,” he explained. “I thought if I build a small one, when I go, maybe somebody at those museums will get it.”
A FAMILY PROJECT
Although Masson is in charge of his builds, he seeks ideas and help from his family.
He said it’s a way to connect with his kids.
“It was my daughter who said, It would be good to build the [Saskatchewan] Legislative Building in cardboard,’” he said. “So, I did.”
His Eiffel Tower, made of wood, is his second favourite because of the time he spent with his son working on it.
“My son, him and I got some pine wood and we sawed that up on the table saw, all those little ribs,” he said. “He kind of ran the table saw and he helped me quite a bit on that one.”
For the replica of his own building, Queen Victoria Estates, he had to brave Saskatchewan winter temperatures to go outside and check the building to make sure he didn’t miss any details.
“It was pretty hard,” he said. “It was pretty cold out to go and look and see wherever anyone had a balcony or whatever else.”
Masson said he thinks he’s finished with the large creations as he’s running out of space in his suite. He’ll continue creating stained glass, which he sells at the craft sales held at Queen Victoria Estates.
As for the future for his models, he said he doesn’t expect them to go too far.
“I was thinking one day, ‘What am I going to do with all these things? Just stomp on them and crush them?’” Masson said with a laugh.
“That’s about all you can do with things of cardboard. Nobody wants them. So I just think about crushing them, after all that work."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.