It all started about 10 years ago when the West Parish Congregational Church in Bethel needed pew card holders.

The holders attach to the back of each pew.

“We came up with an idea, and we designed and made one,” said Bob Iles of Bethel. “It worked out pretty well.”

And so the “Congo Craftsmen” were born, although at the time they didn’t necessarily see themselves becoming an established group.

That happened not long afterward, when they joined members of other churches across the state on an annual spruce-up/improvement day at Pilgrim Lodge camp (of the Maine Conference of the United Church of Christ) in West Gardiner.

“We had been doing some roofing with other groups, and we saw a need for new screens on the cabins,” said Iles.

So began a four-year project – to replace 400 screens of varying sizes.

Each Monday a half dozen or so men from the church gathered at Iles’ garage.

“Every screen was custom-made,” said Iles.

Although they received help off and on from many people, the core group working on the project included retirees Iles (dentist), Larry Engdahl (mechanical engineer), Walter Hatch (chemical engineer) Dean Walker (machinist).

With those backgrounds, precision and efficiency were the norm throughout construction and delivery.

“We sorted and shrink-wrapped the screens according to cabin,’ said Iles.

When that project was finally completed, the Lodge asked them to build large, hexagonal picnic tables to seat 12 people each.

“We built 15 in two sessions,” said Iles.

And they’ve been busy ever since. They expanded their work outside the church setting to projects at the University of Maine 4-H Camp in Bryant Pond, building benches to go with tables in the dining hall, and then, when a small new dining hall was added, new tables and benches for that. They also built kiosks for the Mahoosuc Land Trust.

The core group, which now also includes Al Marcotte and Steve Lovejoy, knows their construction routine so well that they barely need to discuss how to proceed any more. They start at 9 a.m., break for coffee at 10, and generally finish at noon.

“I make the coffee, they bring the donuts,” said Bob’s wife, Lidah.

“We do the projects for the camaraderie and the donuts,” joked Iles.

There’s plenty of joking during each session, thanks primarily to Hatch, according to the others.

He was in typical form at a recent gathering. Noting Iles’ dentistry career, Hatch said Iles does most of the drilling.

“And he fills in the nail holes,” he added.

Their most recent project has been building bed rails and ladders for 60 military-style steel bunk beds at Pilgrim Lodge.

“This will make them code-compliant,” said Engdahl, who draws up the plans for all the projects.

He also letters each piece with “Congo Craftsmen,” and the date. For the church camp projects, the group brands each piece with the camp logo, using a brand fashioned by Walker.

They expected to have the bunk project done during the Christmas season.

But this group of Santa’s helpers won’t rest after the holidays.

“These elves work most of the year,” said Iles.

The craftsmen said they welcome others who wish to help out, noting the larger group members are not necessarily members of the Congo church.

They don’t yet have their next project lined up.

“We haven’t sent out RFPs (Requests for Proposals),” said Engdahl.

But they are open to project ideas, they said.

Other craftsmen helping the group in recent years have included: Rich Engdahl, Tim Roberts, Dave Morton, Walt Brough, Ted Davis, Dick Melville, Dave Shiverick, Steve Wight, Jim Chandler, Dave Miles, Buzz Gamble and the late Howard Cole and Dexter Stowell.