If you need something at The Maples Nursing Home, Bud's your man. Case in point. Residents wanted a jukebox so they could have music in the dining room and be able to bring their own records and play them. No problem. Bud made it happen. Everyone loves the jukebox.

"Residents bring their own records in and they play them on the jukebox and it's great.," he says with a smile.

And what about Boston cream pie? He made that happen too.

But aside from being the man who makes things happen, Bud is also the man who makes things out of wood. He loves woodworking and even has his own little workshop set up in the downstairs lounge area where he keeps his tools and supplies. But let's first take a step back and look at the interesting life of Bud Reeves.

Born into a family of 10 in rural Woodstock, Bud grew up on a farm where he milked cows by hand. In his later years, he ended up running the family farm. He would load raw grain onto a wooden wagon and take the wagon by horse to the local mill where it would be ground. He then brought the milled grain back to the farm. This experience would serve as an inspiration for Bud in his later years as we will see.

Things took a surreal turn for Bud when he left farming to become a security guard for the Oxford Regional Centre. That led him to pursue policing in Woodstock and he became a police officer. He soon discovered this was not for him so he left policing and became a City Inspector for Woodstock. He married and together they had four children and adopted two others. One of his adopted sons is now an OPP officer in Brampton.

Bud came to The Maples Nursing Home following a serious illness that took his left leg while in hospital. That was just over a year ago. But despite this, he refuses to be seen as disabled. In fact, this past summer he joined his fellow residents on a slip and slide.

"I wasn't going to let my lack of a leg stop me from having fun."

Now Bud, as mentioned, loves wood working. He builds model wooden carts like the ones he carted grain in as a boy. He builds them from memory and they look remarkable. In fact, Bud won first prize for woodworking at last year's Tavistock Fall Fair. Residents love them too and he sells them to make a little extra cash.

He is a valued member of the home's resident's council. He is always advocating on their behalf.

"I'm happy here. I really enjoy seeing the happy faces though when the jukebox is playing at dinner. I'm glad I could help make that happen."