European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 31, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Military arts and Craft centers offer Many activities. At left artists work at their easels during a class at Rhein main a while above army sgt. Dan Watts repairs his porsche at the base s Auto Craft shop. Craft centers continued from Page 13 sgt. Sam Morris at the fatten Center. I m learning and the Craft shop instructors give me advice and  nearby Claudette Tombrella and James Buerer a visiting missionary from Africa were making easels for a Church presentation. It is a wonderful program for enlisted people and dependents said Tombrella who noted that she made her own spice shelves. At the other end of the room 1st it. Kenneth o Shea was turning out 35 company plaques. Before coming Here i used the shop at fort Rucker Ala. I spend More time in the Wood shops than on any other extracurricular activity. I be made bookshelves and study carrels among other  fatten also offers a four hour class in picture framing for $20, taught by Denise Mccormich. Ginger Hiott who has taken the course was framing a picture she received As a wedding gift. People Frame All sorts of things favorite photographs pictures they have purchased on trips gifts said Mccormich. Mats downtown Cost around 40 Marks. Here one measuring 70 by 170 meters Only costs $6. The holdings run from 60 cents to $4 a  despite Good participation Maquire said there have been rumours that the Center might be closed if it does t meet expenses it would be sad. Especially with the Low Dollar " Al Weart in Ansbach West Germany who oversees five area arts and Craft shops at different caverns does t seem to have the same worry. The whole Ansbach program attracts up to 600 people a Day and averages a net profit of $10,000 a year. The Money comes from sales of supplies user fees and services such As picture framing and commercial photography passport and id photos portraits Etc. When you Are out in the Middle of nowhere recreation plays a big part in keeping up morale said Weart. The High Quality of the area s facilities he noted can be traced Back to the 60s and a colonel who placed great emphasis on Good recreation programs. Weart a former Industrial arts teacher in California joined the army program 28 years ago. I am a Little like a vocational school principal with 28 instructors. Without prior training they participants learn to turn out excellent products. Some Are making miniature wooden houses for example that Are of better Quality than can be purchased  one of Weart s Craft shops is at Hillesheim a Small town some 19 Miles from Ansbach. Two regular participants Are Una Lue Metoxen a Navajo and her husband Kenneth an army Corporal and member of the Iroquois tribe. She is a sculptress. He is a Painter. After admiring the Indian figure she was working on Karie Damm the assistant director showed us through the Ceramic studio. There Are two potters wheels but they Are rarely used. Here As in the other Craft shops painting pottery from commercial holds is the big Hobby. The creativity comes into play when they paint the objects said Weart. Then they do their own  what is offered at the military arts and crafts centers varies from Community to Community. Some have better facilities and equipment. Others give a wider Range of Craft instruction. The air Force generally has an Edge when it comes to facilities such As at Rhein main a West Germany where there Are new facilities. The army s arts and crafts Center at Camp Fieri outside of Wiesbaden for example used to be a dining Hall. The Center was closed in 1984 for renovation and new Walls and ceilings were put in said Heinz Lademann the director. But it s still cold in the Winter and hot in the  Lademann is another director who is not Happy about the new emphasis. He has been with the Craft program for 40 years. During this time he has set up three different shops calling on his own carpentry background to update the buildings. His latest project was adding a photo lab to the basement at Camp Fieri. Compared to the three other Craft centers visited Rhein main a Hillesheim and Heidelberg All in West Germany the Camp Fieri Center is not a Large operation. Nevertheless it offers a wide Range of activities. If you want to learn bookbinding leather work cabinetmaking photography or How to use a Potter s wheel Lademann can provide instruction. At present however his versatility is not in great demand. The Center has a Well equipped woodworking shop where soldiers turn out video cabinets Coffee Tab Les and fashionable Mantle clocks but the big drawing card today is the painting of commercially designed ceramics. Lademann said 20 to 40 women come in each Day to work on Ceramic projects the rage at military Craft shops All Over Europe. Some people in fact drive from Center to Center on the Lookout for new holds to add to a collection. Many Craft shops Are pouring the holds themselves for ready to finish ceramics and Selling them to hobbyists for the final touches. At Camp Fieri Dianna Labatte a Volunteer said she pours about eight to 10 a Day. Among the finished Ceramic pieces offered for Sale Are a set of four canisters which Labatte will paint to order for $25 and a Christmas tree also for $25. Lademann does not feel such sales have a place in centers where the emphasis should be on the development of individual craftwork. I think it is terrible he said. The air Force is being hit with the same funding policies As the army is. At Rhein main a however the effects Aren t obvious at first glance. The arts and crafts Center in a newly opened million Dollar Complex is a showplace. Ron Pineda chief of recreation services notes however that the new Center took 32 years to get and that the goal As with the army is for the programs to become self sustaining. The Center has a Small Glass domed entry where supplies can be purchased at 30 percent to 40 percent less than the Cost in German stores. Most come from the . Army recreation services support Center in Aschaffenbur West Germany beside the sales room is a Small gallery area where Craft shop teachers and students can display their work. The woodworking Section boasts four new machines All connected to an exhaust system that keeps the air clean. There is a planer and Joiner machine a circular saw a Sander a machine that cuts holdings and another that drills holes. There is also a Spray room for furniture finishing. A ladies night is offered and a special class in Wood veneering is provided for those who wish to make chess boards and the like. The ceramics Section is As Well equipped. It has four pottery wheels and five kilns and stocks 750 different commercial holds. There Are classes in Oil painting and instruction in silk screen printing. The Center offers patrons the Opportunity to Frame their own pictures or to pay to have it done. There is a Large selection of framing material to choose from and 80 different colors of mat Board. There also is an express printing service with prices about 40 percent to 50 percent below those in German stores. Marsha Prichard Ceramic instructor puts finishing touches on an Eagle that can be purchased at the Rhein main a arts and crafts Center. Photos by Lynda w. Sparks Heinz Lademann rec program Veteran w Hen Heinz Lademann retires in the near future from running the arts handcrafts Center at Camp Fieri i Wiesbaden West Germany the army program will lose someone who knows its history very Well. Lademann was Only 18 years old when he joined the fledgling program in 1947, a time when Germany was still in Post world War ii economic turmoil. I heard there was to be an opening for a crafts teacher in Wiesbaden he recalled. I d completed my training in carpentry. I had Learned some English in school enough to get by. I knew that working for the americans you had extra  the latter meant a lot at the time to a hungry German teen Ager. Food was rationed and the rations weren t Large. There had been no luxuries like Candy for a Long time. Lademann drove a jeep for six weeks until the woman who had had the teaching Job quit. The Early program he recalled was very primitive. We had Little  the original red Cross shop located in what is now the officers club at Wiesbaden a had Only one Jigsaw he said. Lademann has held on to some of the participant Check in logs from those Early years. He treasures the ones from 1948-49 in particular. That was the time of the Berlin blockade. Ign ring the four Power agreement guaranteeing Access to the City by the allies the soviet Union completely shut Down All rail lines roads and Waterways leading to the Western sector june 24, 1948. The United states acted quickly. In just two Days it began a massive Airlift of Coal food and Medicine to Berlin s templehof Airport. Britain soon joined the operation and France offered support. The american Rescue Mission was dubbed operation  in july 1948, an unofficial operation called Little vittles began with air Crew members bombing West Berlin with Candy for its kids people flocked to the Craft shop to wrap Candy in handkerchief parachutes for the air Crews from Wiesbaden a to take on their flights. Everyone who took part signed the log Lademann kept and he remembers Many of them. Even local German children took part said Lademann. We gave them Candy too. It could t be bought at that time in any part of  the Craft shops have changed Over the years but Lademann says the purpose remains the same. In the Early Days they gave the bored and lonely Soldier an alternative to the clubs downtown they still do but Lademann says the  at Camp Fieri Aren t really bar hoppers. Up Here the  work very hard. At night they either go to their rooms and listen to music or come  . Shipping out the supplies if you want to know what s in for members of the . Forces overseas when it comes to hobbies James Ehrenreich is the  to  has to have the right answers. He s the  who delivers the goods. Ehrenreich is the crafts commodity manager for the . Army recreation services support Center Europe in Aschaffenbur West Germany. Right now he also is filling in As chief of receiving shipping and issuing which gives him two offices. When things get too hectic at one place he said with a smile i pick up and go to my other  the tall buildings at the Aschaffenbur warehouse Complex were granaries in the 1930s. When Hitler came to Power they were used As Barracks. Today the Supply Center which was established at its present location in 1948, supports Little Heaters child care centers arts and crafts programs photo labs and Auto shops. Though the bulk of the recreation programs Are in Germany there also Are centers in Italy Belgium the Netherlands Turkey Egypt the Sinai and Norway. And what s in when it comes to the Hobby circuit ceramics Are big said Ehrenreich. Right now Ceramic supplies kilns glazes slip add up to 40 percent of our Supply  fads come and go. Leather work used to be very  he continued now it is on the  the storage room once filled with hides is being used to stack picture framing material. Orders for photo lab material Are also at an All time Low. In the past Many single soldiers were very involved in photography. Now according to Ehrenreich work in the photo labs has dropped to about a 10th of what it was at its  most of the photo shops Are getting into the photo studio business. They Are photographing groups families weddings and parties. Today s soldiers Are better paid. They Are willing to drop off a Roll of film and have it developed commercially. They use the labs though if they want to make Large color prints. Sometimes then photo work develops into a Hobby and they learn the skill. The focus of the arts and crafts centers said Ehrenreich has shifted to families. In the past children were not allowed in the Craft centers. Now not Only Are they Welcome but there Are programs for them. The most popular crafts these Days Are country Craft needlework and ceramics. Generally women Are the most involved. Men Are big in woodworking the Supply Center has an annual inventory Worth $10 million to $12 million. This involves about 4,000 to 5,000 different items. The value of the individual items must be under $5,000. Stocking items above that amount would tie up funds unnecessarily. We have to serve and be flexible said Ehrenreich. For example when stained windows were in demand we arranged a no appropriated agreement that made it possible for the arts and crafts centers to order directly from a  in the past Ehrenreich sold supplies a Cost to the Craft centers. Today As part of what he terms As a general erosion of benefits he must add a Small markup. In turn the Craft centers add a markup before Selling to individual hobbies to. The usual Craft Center markup is from 20 percent to 50 percent he said. The Money earned goes Back into the  because of the Quantity wholesale purchasing the depot is Able to do the Cost to the hobbies for supplies is still below retail prices. Ehrenreich entered the program in 1961. He was living in Paris at the time where he had been assigned after the War in counterintelligence. He was first assigned to the Southwest of France then to Verdun and finally to Nancy. He was there in 1967 when the president of France Charles de Gaulle asked nato forces to leave. We had one year to take All we could carry he recalled. Arts and crafts supplies were brought to staging areas in France. From there they were picked up by the directors of arts and Craft centers within Germany. That solved storage and shipping problems said Ehrenreich. A lot of the supplies would have been ruined had we handled it differently. It was a hectic period but there were some lighter  Ehrenreich recalled that a brigadier general in Baum older West Germany knew there was a nine Hole Golf course at Verdun. He sent Earth movers and rolled up the greens. Golfers in Baum older were soon playing on the Sod of  . 14 the stars and stripes wednesday August 31,1988 the stars and stripes Page 15