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stouffville woman enjoys cleaning up tribune april 6 1988 a by bruce stapley for lana graingerblack cleaning up after others has be come a way of life the stouffville resident who runs a onewoman house cleaning operation called the sparkles company credits her 10year business with giving her both in dependence and much needed physical activity i could never be confined to a 9 uo 5 office job she insists i really feel im suited to this type of work it gives me physical activity and freedom lana has always been a strong i proponent of physical fitness she was a training manager for a fit- ness institute in the early 70s and went on to work for the jack i lalanne organization after that ski instructor she took up skiing at the age of 17 and has reached a level of pro ficiency that saw her become a member of the dagmar ski school this winter raised in parry sound where she rode the same school bus as hockey great bobby orr lana moved to toronto and attended northern secondary school where she was a cheerleader she moved to ringwood in 1977 and one year later was asked to help an acquaintance with her house cleaning one morning a week it just mushroomed from there she claims and i still have that first customer today while she says she has many of the same customers who were with her in the early years her first is very special ive seen 10 christmas trees in their home she recalls they are a lovely family ive watched the kids grow from teenagers into adults and they have always made me feel like part of the family lana says she never had to place an ad in the paper to get customers for her first seven years in business no ads placed i feel a sense of gratitude to the town for that she claims most customers have become friends i can go and visit them and i have actually shared in the lives and in one case the death of them her clients have included mil lionaires and single parents pro fessional hockey players and truck drivers she says she has been inspired by the decorating ideas in some nouses and has learned different approaches to child raising in others and while some loath the thought of cleaning six or seven toilets as part of their days work lanas developed a philosophical attitude to her profession you cant have a negative per sonality and do this type of work she insists its a service people really need positive job she admits there are times she asks herself if she should go out and get a real job but then i think of the benefits and advantages she said to me its a positive job you walk into the house and its a mess but when you leave you know how much its going to mean to the cus tomer to come home to a freshly cleaned house lana has always tried to tune in to her customers to learn their preferences so she can leave them little surprises every now and again and she tries to remember the pets i always take treats for the dogs the bone from last nights dinner or whatever its a source of great satisfac tion to her how her customers come to trust her with their valu ables and even in some cases their secrets involving their lifes tyles i have keys to most of my cus tomers houses she claims- i remember one time a customer was robbed i never even heard from the police so great was their trust her working relationship with her customers is such she can switch days if necessary it defintely makes for a no ulcer situation when you get that kind of cooperation she says welltrusted she has come to appreciate the freedom aspect of the business be cause of how its allowed her to always be there for her 12-year- old daughter julie parenting is in my opinion the most important job of a mother she says with convic tion the cleaning business has allowedme to put her first lana has taken on extra women with an eye to expanding the busi ness in the past but found it took a specific type of person to do the work involved some women feel its beneath them to clean someone elses house they dont want to be looked upon as a cleaning lady planned on expanding according to the attractive red head with the indefatigable na ture her daily workload consists of two and on occasion three houses which when accompa nied with her frantic ski schedule sees her get all the physical activ ity she can handle in the winter months she concludes by expressing her sincere gratitude to the town that has allowed her to work at a job that gives her the flexibility to pursue all her other interests stouffvilles been very good to me its provided me with my livelihood mr fixits been at it since he was a toddler by bruce stapley when he was three years old he fixed his first bicycle shortly af ter he took his mothers sewing machine apart to see what made it tick and now at the age of 26 he spends most of his spare time in other peoples houses installing fireplace doors repairing taps hooking up ice makers or doing anything else his customers dont have the time or the know how to attempt themselves for stouffvilles wayne holt its a way of saving up for that first starter house and an opportunity to apply his jackofalltrade i handy man skills he has been de veloping since childhood by day an employee at almira furniture in unionville in charge of final assembly and shipping wayne heads out most evenings and weekends to homes in the stouffvillemarkhamuxbridge area he looks after householders needs ranging from the installa tion of a light bulb through build- ing and installing shelving units and just about everything in be- tween the main reason im in busi ness is that there are people out there who dont know which end of a screwdriver to hold or who are just too busy to do their own work says the young man who stakes so much pride in his ability to fix adapt adjust or install things that go into the contempor ary house i guess the idea for turning it into a business came when i was working at cards hardware he ays they asked me a few times if i would be interested in install ing appliances and equipment bought by their customers and in providing a handy man service to sonic of their customers who were seniors i i always knew i wanted to have my own business he main- tains and ive always taken an interest in how things work waynes years at stouffville district secondary school saw him take most of the technical courses such as electronics auto ihop machine shop and wood working in fact it was his willingness to jend his expertise to the school for a stage production that landed him his first job i was doing the lighting for a fashion show at the school back in 1980 he recalls the owner of ybrucc county pine came up to me and asked me if i could drive a truck i ended up as store mana- iger on a fulltime basis after l working there parttime doing de liveries until i finished school while waynes ever increasing knowledge of the hand crafted furniture business has made him a valued employee to the com- panics he has worked for in that field he has his sights set on someday pursuing his handy man interests on a full time basis right now im finding that it is getting a little difficult to keep up with the work on a parttime basis i can see the day coming when ill start doing it full time expanding my services and poss ibly even hiring some other people going under the name of the main as in maintenance man wayne claims there is no home related job he will not consider ill take on anything within reason he says i enjoy a chal lenge however he says he finds him self doing some jobs with more regularity than others i do a lot of central vacuum installations garage door openers and ap pliance related hook ups is there anything he wont tack le i wont do painting or wall papering he claims i know my limitations married to his wife lisa for a little over two years wayne admits that there is a price to pay for his hours spent tending to the home related needs of his custom ers it cuts into your social life he admits and you can find yourself pretty lired some nights one job a central vac installa tion found him working until 2 am the people hadnt moved in yet he adds he has worked as many as 30 hours a week on his second job but feels that its the price he must pay if he wants to someday buy a house the business survives entirely by word of mouth and referrals he recently purchased a minivan for the purpose of hauling around his tools equipment and stock when asked to recall the most unusual requests he has had he mentions both the miniirrigation system he was called upon to in stall and the time he was aked to convert a germanmade wall unit for use in canada with canadian hydro hookups hes hopeful that the housing boom in stouffville and surround ing areas continues theres al ways something that needs doing in a new house says wayne masfsfiwp spring in bloom april 8th 9th v black white red navy the new in colours for spring come out and experience woodsides spring fashions at their best all happening in pascal court showtimes friday at 730 pm and two shows on saturday at 1200 noon and 200 pm el woodside square finch ave e at mccowan rd wfre searching for a heart of gold r selflessness willingness understanding qualities you may see in someone you know someone who goes out of his or her way to make your community a better place to live air canada in partnership with your community newspaper would like to salute these individuals who bring so much to your community thats why we created air canadas heart of gold award nows the time to speak out on behalf of these individuals make your nomination for air canadas heart of gold award today its time we all said thanks complete the form below and include a note or letter giving the special reasons why you feel the person youre nominating makes your community a better place to live mail it to this newspaper care of air canadas heart of gold award s- t ri v u hoi ft m fiu pp ti fitft y- air canadas heart of gold award in partnership with your community newspaper my nominee for air canadas heart of gold award is your 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