A Teak Story
Once upon a time……
There was a young Lithuanian boy who wanted to make his grandfather very happy for his birthday. His Grandfather Thos. was a Baker who worked hard on his feet all day. His grandfather’s bakery was near the harbor and the old man would sit on a Crate and Barrel to watch the sailors as they unloaded flower from the ships for his bakery. The boy knew that a Golden Teak bench or chair would be the perfect thing for his grandfather to sit on as he watched the sailors work.
Early one Sunday morning he told his father of the idea. His Father said, “Teak Tropical wood - you no find here in Lithuania.” So the boy set out through the Garden Gate of his Country Casual cottage home.
Once in town he went to see the Bench Smith to see if he would make him a teak chair or bench. The Bench Smith paid no mind to the young boy’s request thinking he had no money. The little boy did not have money but he did have three jewels in his pocket, one diamond, one emerald, and one ruby that he wanted to trade for his grandfather’s new bench.
The boy set off through town waving to people he knew like Mr. Smith and Hawkins. He asked them if they knew where to find a teak bench. They told him that he must go to the Wooden Village teak forest but they were not sure where it was.
The boy set off through the dusty streets of town. Then he came to Mr. Saxon and Wakefield from Westminster who were smoking their pipes on the corner. They told him that he would need to go to America to find such a bench. The boy said “Then that is where I will go!” They asked him how he would pay for such a trip so the little boy showed them his three jewels. Saxon and Wakefield said to be careful to hide his jewels on the long trip.
The young boy was clever and so he hid his Jewels in a cup of coffee, snuck aboard a ship, and set sail for America. As the ship coursed through heavy seas he sat on the Deckline against the cabin and clung tightly to his Jewels of Java and the imagined the day that he would present a Royal Teak bench to his grandfather and how happy they both would be.
After many weeks the concrete ship came to rest in the Harbor of Cape May, NJ and the boy went ashore to find his teak bench. After walking for just a few miles he came to a quaint shop called Fabulous Home and Patio and to the boys surprise he saw the most amazing collection of teak benches, tables, chairs, and accessories. There was were even teak lights, a teak shower, and a teak trash can. He spoke to the shopkeepers Ken and Alice. They helped him pick out the most perfect teak bench for his grandfather. The boy was sad because he had found the perfect bench but had no way to get it back home because the boy’s ship had wrecked on the shore of Diamond Beach Cape May.
Alice and Ken told the boy not to worry because they ship anywhere in the world and they sent the boy home to Lithuania with the most beautiful bench in the store.
The bench and the boy arrived in time for the grandfathers birthday and from that day on they would sit together in the harbor and watch the sailors unload the flower from the ships.
Smile!