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By Robert G. PushkarGLOBE CORRESPONDENT

Without a doubt, they are low-tech. No batteries. Noth-ing to plug in, no moving parts. No computer chips.They’re lightweight, inexpensive (about $1.50), and theyfly. They’re Guillow’s gliders, the balsa-wood airplanesthat have entertained generations of kids and adults withsimple, old-fashioned fun, and they’re made in Wakefield.

In a high-tech age, Paul K. Guillow Inc. is a throwbackphenomenon, both in its products and their manufacture.While the gliders are a company staple and enduring best-seller, Guillow’s (rhymes with willows) offers an array ofauthentic scale-model balsa kits for hobbyists to assembleas well as lightweight foam models.

The enduring attraction of these simple toys appears tobe rooted in nostalgia. Longtime employee and recentlyappointed Guillow’s president Thomas G. Barker says: ‘‘Ithink it’s more of an attraction to the adult who buys it forthe kids. They remember it from their childhood.

‘‘Kids today don’t know how to play with somethingunless it has electricity of some kind to it,’’ Barker says.‘‘With gliders, they can just take it out of the bag, put ittogether, and throw it. It’s just fun for kids.’’

Doug Hart, manager of Hart’s Hardware in Wakefieldand a steady customer of Guillow’s for more than 20 years,concurs. ‘‘Everybody looks at them and remembers themas a little kid. They’re really nice and inexpensive, and theycan have a good time flying them.’’

YOON S. BYUN/GLOBE STAFF

Guillow’s president Thomas Barker believes the glider’sappeal is as much for adults as children.

Companytimeline1926 Former World War I Navyaviator Paul K. Guillow foundsNu Craft Toys in Wakefield,manufacturing smallbalsa-wood model airplaneconstruction kits.

1927 Charles A. Lindbergh’ssolo transatlantic flightjump-starts an aviation craze inthe nation, and firm capitalizeson this with The New LindyFlying Game.

1933 Guillow’s moves itsoperation from a barn to itscurrent New Salem Streetfactory location.

1940s Paul Guillow authorsfour books on model airplanes.

1951 Paul Guillow dies and hiswidow, Gertrude H. Guillow,incorporates the company,becoming president andtreasurer.

1950s The postwar craze forplastic models wanes and‘‘stick and tissue’’ models stagea comeback, increasingdemand.

1980 Gertrude Guillow retires.Management is passed to foursuccessors over three decades.

1980s Guillow’s diversifiesand enters the promotionalproducts industry.

1990s Guillow’s acquirescompetitors Tiger Inc. andComet Industries.

2001 Guillow’s celebrates its75th anniversary.

2010 Guillow’s introducespromotional helicopters anddesign-it-yourself modelsstudio.

Flying highGuillow’s in Wakefield is

still producing a simple toy— the balsa-wood glider

GLIDERS, Page 8

By John LaidlerGLOBE CORRESPONDENT

Area mayors greeted the startof new terms last week with inau-gural speeches that blended sober-ing words about the fiscal climatewith pride in their cities’ accom-plishments and hope for betterdays.

Across the region, 14 mayorselected or reelected last Novemberwere sworn in to office. Three oth-er mayors are in the middle offour-year terms.

Among the more notable cere-monies were those ushering innew regimes.

Mayors William Lantigua ofLawrence, Judith Flanagan Ken-nedy of Lynn, Donna D. Holadayof Newburyport, and Scott D. Gal-vin of Woburn began their firstterms.

The inaugurations in Lawrence

and Lynn were also milestoneevents, since Lantigua is the firstLatino to be elected mayor in Mas-sachusetts and Kennedy the firstwoman to win the mayor’s seat inLynn.

As with past inaugural ad-dresses, this year’s speeches high-lighted initiatives completed, un-derway, and planned.

But the mayors also used theoccasion to remind their constitu-ents of the financial difficultiesthat continue to beset their com-

14 area mayors sworn into officeSpeeches touch onfiscal difficultiesand hope for future

MATTHEW J. LEE/GLOBE STAFF

Governor Deval Patrick (right) applauded at the inauguration of Mayor William Lantigua.

INAUGURATIONS, Page 5

By John LaidlerGLOBE CORRESPONDENT

As their cities prepare totackle the challenges facing themin the new year, four former areamayors face a different task:Getting used to being regularcitizens.

John Moak of Newburyport,Michael J. Sullivan of Lawrence,Thomas L. McLaughlin of Wo-burn, and Edward J. Clancy Jr. ofLynn all ended their tenures lastweek when new mayors wereinaugurated. Clancy and Mc-Laughlin were unseated in theircities’ November elections, whileMoak chose not to run again andSullivan was barred from run-ning because of Lawrence’s term-limit rule.

In interviews, Moak, Sullivan,and McLaughlin all were upbeatin reflecting on their transitionsand their time in office. Clancy,who served two four-year termsas mayor, 12 years as a city coun-cilor, and also was previously astate senator and state represent-ative, declined comment.

McLaughlin, who lost to ScottGalvin in his bid for a third two-year term, said the disappoint-ment has long since faded and hefeels ‘‘very comfortable’’ aboutmoving on.

JOHN MOAK

EDWARD J.CLANCY JR.

MICHAELSULLIVAN

THOMAS McLAUGHLIN

For those on wayout, satisfaction,and few regrets

DEPARTING MAYORS, Page 5

By John LaidlerGLOBE CORRESPONDENT

While legislation to prohibit textingwhile driving remains stalled on BeaconHill, Danvers is considering banning thepractice on its streets.

The Jan. 25 Special Town Meetingwill take up a proposed bylaw thatwould make it illegal to type, text, orread from a wireless communication de-vice on Danvers streets. Violators wouldbe subject to a $100 fine.

The Board of Selectmen last Tuesdayvoted 4-1 to place an article providingfor adoption of the bylaw on the TownMeeting warrant, and to support its pas-sage.

‘‘I want to draw attention to the factthat it’s dangerous for anybody to drivewhile distracted,’’ said Selectman DanBennett, who proposed the bylaw. ‘‘Thepreferred method of communicating to-day for many young people is text mes-saging, and they do it while they’re driv-ing. I just think it needs to be recognizedthat this is a danger.’’

Danvers is among several communi-ties to take up a ban on text messagingwhile driving.

The Marblehead Board of Selectmen

D A N V E R S

Texting banfor driversconsideredProposal wouldbring $100 fines

DANVERS, Page 5

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stress. To young Robert Higgins,it was the ultimate downer. Hevented to the company in 1959in a hand-scrawled letter thathangs framed in Guillow’s lobby.

Higgins wrote: ‘‘I have boughtone of your fifty cent planes, andit broke as soon as it left theground. If you don’t make yourrotten fifty cent plane better, myfriends & I won’t buy your planesanymore. I think you have thelousiest planes from the lousiestwood (please take this as aninsult): drop dead.’’

Guillow’s tried to address thedurability factor by shellackingthe wings. The airplanes becamemore sturdy but they didn’t flybecause of the extra weight. Still,the planes endure in the mind ifnot always in performance.

But in a limping economy,Guillow’s shows endurance inanother way. ‘‘We seem to dowell in lousy economies,’’ Barkersaid. ‘‘We have an inexpensiveproduct and a fun toy.’’

With the more sophisticated$30 model kits, Barker sees a‘‘great ratio of dollars-to-playvalue. It will take you about 40hours to build. That’s less than adollar an hour for the enter-tainment value.’’

And payback, Barker believes,comes in another less tangiblebut perhaps more gratifying way.Building models ‘‘ignites theimagination.’’

Designer Mark Tennant, 45,has been designing and imple-menting the production of mod-els for 20 years. He oversawdevelopment of two productlines due out in 2010, the Air-plane Design Studio, where kidscan design their own modelschoosing from more than 35parts, and the promotional heli-copter, a four-piece foam-and-balsa model powered by astretched rubber band that cansoar 50 feet or more.

‘‘The whole reason to put outthe Design Studio was to sparksome creativity in kids,’’ Tennantsaid. ‘‘We’re giving kids the op-portunity to put any tail on orany wing, using their creativity.Some planes might not fly, butwe can’t tell them what to do.They have to get it right.

‘‘I’ve always been a big kid atheart and love toys myself,’’ hecontinued. ‘‘I like the fact thatwe’re still putting something outthat will make them think a littlebit, too, and make them dosomething with their hands. Ithink that’s important.’’

Barker, 52, a Wakefield na-tive, learned the specialized toybusiness from the ground up.During his 34 years with thecompany, he studied every stepof production at the New SalemStreet facility.

That’s been the Guillow’s sitesince founder Paul K. Guillowmoved his mom-and-pop busi-ness out of his barn on PleasantStreet in the 1930s. Over theyears, a series of low-slung addi-tions were built on the site,which now houses offices, amanufacturing plant, and ware-houses.

Guillow, a Navy pilot in WorldWar I, returned home to Wake-field harboring a deep passionfor aviation. In 1926 he formedNu Craft Toys, a model airplanecompany that made a line ofsmall balsa-wood shelf-modelconstruction kits of combataircraft flown in the war. Then,airplanes and their daring pilotsfed the public imagination, butfew recognized their emergingimportance.

Enter Charles A. Lindberghand his spellbinding 1927 trans-Atlantic flight in the Spirit of St.Louis, which not only broughtaviation to the news forefrontbut also jump-started a flurry ofinterest in Guillow’s aircraftmodels.

‘‘Everybody really got in-terested in aviation at thatpoint,’’ Barker said. ‘‘It reallyhelped our business grow be-cause all these kids were fasci-nated by his flight.’’

Soon after, Guillow’s kitswere in demand. And to capital-ize on the mania, the savvy en-trepreneur also created a suc-cessful card game, The NewLindy Flying Game.

Over the years Guillow be-came an authority on aviationhistory and wrote four books on

the subject, including ‘‘Tom’sBook of Flying Models’’ and‘‘Flying Models: How to BuildThem.’’ For six decades, Guil-low’s was a family-owned busi-ness, until the death of PaulGuillow’s widow, Gertrude, whohad controlled the company for35 years.

Afterward, the companychanged into a successful ESOP(Employee Stock OwnershipPlan) with current annual reve-nues between $3 and $5 million.

Guillow’s cornered the do-mestic flying toys market byacquiring Tiger Inc. of Los Ange-les in 1994 and Comet Industriesof Chicago in 1998. Tiger was aleader in promotional toys —imprints with company nameson the wings and fuselage ofplanes — and Comet was a directcompetitor in kits and gliders.Now Guillow’s gliders sportnames like FedEx, FireStar SparkPlugs, and the National Museumof the US Air Force.

Bucking the practices of

many businesses today, Guil-low’s makes simple productsusing simple methods. Most ofthe manufacturing is done on1940s-era machines. An on-site‘‘wonderful mechanic,’’ Barkersaid, maintains the equipment.‘‘We don’t have to upgrade ourmachinery.’’ A packaging ma-chine that seals gliders in plasticbags is a former candy-bar wrap-ping machine that was adaptedfor Guillow’s needs.

One exception is the lasercutting machine that replacedthe old-style die-cutter. It uses aprocess that draws the parts on abalsa sheet and uses a laser for aclean cut.

The company imports balsawood from tree farms in Ecua-dor. The wood is kiln-dried tolose moisture, and air fills in thespaces, thus making it light andstrong for use in model planes.

But as every model-builderknows, balsa is fragile and manya youngster has been disappoint-ed by its failure to withstand

PHOTOS BY YOON S. BYUN/GLOBE STAFF

Debbie Greco works on a piece of packaging equipment at Paul K. Guillow Inc. (above). Below, some of the planes, which are nowalso marketed as promotional products.

Old-fashioned company still flying highº GLIDERSContinued from Page 1

ney is maybe more aggressiveand the better rebounder at thisstage.’’

Through nine games, Briannawas averaging 11.7 points and8.1 rebounds while Whitney wasat 5.4 points and 3.8 rebounds.

‘‘It’s playing time more thananything else,’’ he said. ‘‘Lookclosely, and you’ll see Brianna isplaying 28 minutes a game andWhitney 16. We have the reign-ing all-conference post player inDanielle Jenkins. Now we havethe Wilson sisters and just likethat, we have three very goodpost players. Whitney is fightingfor her minutes, but she’s gettingthere.

‘‘Early on, they would shootonly if open, a lot of touch andpass. Now they’re starting to takethe open shot when they have it.They have to take advantage oftheir height, which is pretty goodat the Division 3 level.’’

Salem State (5-4) opens MAS-CAC play Tuesday, hosting Mas-sachusetts College of LiberalArts. The Lady Vikings, young asthey are, should be in the hunt.Shea and Salem State have dom-inated MASCAC over the years,winning a combined 38 champi-onships (22 regular season and16 postseason).

Campus cornerThe Merrimack men’s hockey

team started 2010 off on thewrong foot with losses to Wis-consin and Ferris State in theBadger Hockey Showdown inMadison, Wis. The Warriors fell,5-4, to the Badgers in the semifi-nals and 5-1 to Ferris State in theconsolation. Merrimack goalieJoe Cannata of Wakefield had 61saves in the two games. . . . KoryFalite of Billerica scored the onlygoal for UMass-Lowell in a 2-1loss to Northeastern in the title

game of the Ledyard Bank Clas-sic in Hanover, N.H. . . . Went-worth beat City Tech, 82-62, inthe NYU New Year’s BasketballClassic consolation game, behindthe 20-point effort of seniorguard Jack Barrett of Reading.. . . Merrimack’s men’s and wom-en’s soccer teams posted grade-point averages of 3.0 to win the2009 Division 2 NSCAA TeamAcademic Award. Junior KerriDomohowski of Saugus toppedboth teams with a 3.89 GPA.

Around and aboutBeverly’s Tim Johnson won

his third USA Cycling Cyclo-Cross National Championshipslast month in Bend, Ore. Heenjoyed an eight-second marginover hometown favorite RyanTrebon. Johnson, who grew upin Middleton, previously wonnational titles in 2000 and 2007,both in Kansas City. Johnson, 32,had a most successful 2009 witheight victories to claim the over-all North American Cyclo-CrossTrophy series. Johnson nowturns his sights on the WorldChampionships, Jan. 30-31 inTabor, Czech Republic. . . . Mass-Wrestling.com has posted itsfirst team rankings, and CentralCatholic is fourth behind Bridge-water-Raynham, Shawsheen,and Franklin. Winchester issixth, North Andover ninth, andLowell 10th. . . . Valerio Silva(55 meters) of Woburn, AndreRolim (600) of Somerville, Zach-ary Grube (high jump) of Pea-body, and Nicole Genard (55hurdles) of Somerville werewinners in last week’s largeschools boys and girls AuerbachInvitational at the Reggie LewisCenter.

Ideas or information may be sentto JohnPVel@aol.com.

Sports NotebookContinued from preceding page

SALEM STATE

Whitney Wilson (left) and her sister combined to score allseven Salem State points in overtime of the 71-70 title victory.

SALEM STATE

Brianna Wilson had 19 points and 16 rebounds in the SalemState Holiday Classic title game win and was named MVP.

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