There’s a man who’s hard at work in his workshop getting ready for Christmas. He tinkers, he builds, he carves wondrous creations from wood that put a smile on everyone’s face. This man is jolly, though he’s clean shaven and rather thin. He’s Al Ruppert, owner of Clementine’s restaurant. (WWMT/Jake Berent)
There’s a man who’s hard at work in his workshop getting ready for Christmas. He tinkers, he builds, he carves wondrous creations from wood that put a smile on everyone’s face. This man is jolly, though he’s clean shaven and rather thin. He’s Al Ruppert, owner of Clementine’s restaurant.
"He's been doing this for our town for 37 years now,” said Ruppert’s daughter-in-law Melanie Ruppert. She’s married to Al’s son Jon, Clementines’ head chef.
"It's tinkering, but it is so ramped up at Christmas time. I think it's his joy. Because it's the time you can put big red men and elves up, and it's so much fun to look at and it's joyful and I think that's what he likes so much about it,” Melanie said.
Al began woodworking as a kid, and has continued with the hobby his entire life. If it’s made of wood and it’s in Clementines, odds are Al had something to do with it. He’s re-purposed doors as tables, custom made booths for the restaurant, and is almost always busy in his upstairs workshop before the restaurant opens.
"He's up here all the time, and you'll be like all of the sudden, 'What's that smell?' And sometimes it's the most chemical smell, like varnish, other times it will be fresh sawdust, and it will smell like Christmas, and it's July,” Melanie said.
This year, Al’s featuring a mini-Clementines Christmas Tree Farm set up in the middle of the restaurant. He’s also made a wooden Santa, sleigh, and reindeer to go along with elves and a Christmas mailbox meant only for letters to Santa. When people ask about the decorations, Al usually has bad news for them when they ask where they can get some of the same items.
“They say, ‘Wow! Did you do that? No, you must have bought that!’” Al said. “I work a lot up here. Sometimes when I'm working on a project, I'll say, 'Well, it's ten o'clock I better quit,’ and then I turn around and it's two o'clock in the morning. You know, time flies."
Joining Ruppert’s wooden creations are an unknown number of snowflakes hanging up in the dining room.
“We put them up and watch people guess how many there are. People guess anywhere from seventy to thousands,” Al said.
The restaurant would not look as good without the help of countless other Clementines staff helping out, according to Al and Melanie.
"We love them, they're so beautiful, they make us happy. They make our customers happy,” Melanie said.
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