A Darling of a gift for children

A few lucky children will find a hand-built rocking horse under their Christmas tree this year.

For the third year in a row, Western Building Center has teamed up with Columbia Falls woodworker Pete Darling to build rocking horses for the U.S. Marines Toys for Tots program.

Darling made 13 horses this year in his garage shop. He didn't make as many this year as a broken foot hobbled him through most of the summer.

Darling makes the wood pieces for the horses, and WBC staff paint them by hand. The store also provides the materials.

In addition to the rocking horses, the Columbia Falls High School shop program provided wooden toys for the program, including tic-tac-toe boards, blocks, wooden boats and wooden trucks.

Last week, WBC employees loaded the toys onto a truck and delivered them to the Toys for Tots program in Kalispell.