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Show 10 TIMES December 11, 2008 HILLTOP TIMES Hill youth finds key to niche market and profit 9-year-old benefits as he discovers entrepreneurial skill BY LEE ANNE HENSLEY Hilltop Times staff S ome 9-year-olds spend idle hours in front of video games, but not Joshua Harris, stepson of F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot Capt. Brian Benton of the 388th Fighter Wing, 4th Fighter Squadron. Josh chooses to spend his idle hours creating meaningful gifts from the boyhood collections of his stepfather and a family friend — and makes a thriving business from it. The fourth-grader takes antique stamps that his stepfather and his neighbor, Harry Bakken, collected for more than 30 years, and applies them to dog tag shaped key chains to make vintage, military-themed gifts. He got the idea after watching his teenage sister, Mary Lauren Harris, make a successful business of selling her handmade jewelry. "We were dragging him to all the craft shows with us because Mary Lauren was selling her bookmarks, earrings and necklaces," recalls his mother, Ella Benton. "So he would wander off and get a snack and look at the other booths. He then came back and said, There's nothing for the brothers, fathers, grandfathers and the uncles.' He was right; the craft shows really do cater to women. So he said he want*fe'ff'f6lTmalce*soniethTrig to sell he feels there is probably a to the men. There really are stamp for every interest. a lot of men at the shows "One giiy approached ' walking around with their Josh's table (at a convenwives, so he picked up on a tion) and was excited to see need in the market." a ham radio themed stamp and he said, 'I was a ham "My sister had some stamp items and I knew I radio operator for years!' " wanted to do something with his mother said. "It's funny stamps," Josh said. His sis- to see what draws people in, ter makes pendant necklacbecause it can be all things, es with vintage stamps and and there is really no way to he masculinized the concept know what they are going to like." by putting the stamps on dog tag shaped key chains. Josh's key chains were Josh chose the more mascu- recently discovered by the line stamps, mainly aviaHill Aerospace Museum gift tion-themed stamps, while shop manager, Lorrie Slade, his sister sought the more at a weekend convention and feminine stamps from the she offered to sell them in vast collection they inheritthe gift shop. ed from their stepfather and "His stamps are so fun neighbor. and different," Slade said. However, Josh's stamps "A lot of the stamps have are not limited to aviation postage markings on them themes. His inherited collec- so you know they came from tion of stamps is so vast that old letters." take orders the old-fashioned way, via telephone at 593-6789. Josh tries to run all facets of the business himself, except for the banking aspect, due to his age. "Sometimes I need help with checks and stuff," he said. "This is really a great learning experience for Josh," says his mother. "We talk about profit margins and having to spend money to make money. I think that by the time he gets into an economics class at school, he'll have a complete understanding of it!" It is also preparing Josh for his future career goals. When asked what he wants to be when he grows up, Josh said he either wanted to be a CEO or a pilot. Having a slight bias toward his stepdad, Josh identified a preferred aircraft: "The F-16 is my favorite plane because that is what Brian flies." Even though the Harris siblings operate successful businesses, their mother affirms that they are motivated by their own determination and that they simply found an alternative afterschool job. "This really is their idea and their babies," she said. "Josh can either pet Top, Joshua Harris stands next sit, mow lawns or deliver to a display of some of the key chains he makes and sells. Left, newspapers, but he chooses to do this. Plus, being an he shows some of the stamps Air Force kid, it is a porhe uses as his mom sits nearby. table job and he gets a new Above, the stamps he inherited customer base whenever he from a family friend sit in a box. moves." LEE ANNE HENSLEY/Hilltop Times Josh enjoys being an Air Force dependent and choosenjoy it." es: to fbcus on allthe ben-?5*1'"'' Slade also likes the idea ^ After it was confirmed °*"*' that the vintage, aviationthat Josh fulfilled an interest efits it has to offer younger themed $ey ctfains^are made* in this market, he*decfded * Children. ^ * -^ • locally and created by a "I think the Air Force to create his own company military dependent. "I exlife, is a really good life," he within his family's incorpoplain to (our customers) that ration, the Benton Family says. "My life is very rea young kid makes the key laxed and I get advantages Jewels. Josh decided to call chains and that intrigues his business BW Designs as that other kids don't have, them. I think it's fabulous like having an ID card and a tribute to a nickname that when young kids do somegoing on base. But I will be his grandfather, a former thing like this rather than sad when Brian (deploys)." F-4 Phantom pilot, gave to just sit around," she says. him. Although Josh seems to "Some people have asked "The reason I picked that be wise beyond his years, he him, 'Aren't you afraid of name is my grandfather and his mother stay focused ruining the value of the likes to call me 'brave' and on his main priorities. stamps by doing this?'" his my favorite animal is a wolf, "They are kids and stumother says. "We haven't and so he calls me 'brave dents first," Benton says of researched the stamps and wolf,' and (BW Designs) is her young entrepreneurs. gotten the value of them, a shortened version of that "I'm a straight-A student and most of them have gone name," Josh explained. and I still have to keep my through the postage markgrades up," Josh says. Josh designed and oring process, which I believe dered his own business Yet he still makes time devalues them. So we are cards and he tracks his for plenty of recreation. "I taking something that might transactions by himself. He like to play soccer, I am a not be valuable, and we are is interested in designing Cub Scout, I snowboard and putting it back out where his own Web site, like his —" he is a normal boy, of people can see it and still sister's, but for now he will course, " — I play Wii." Fans of the 'Pants' can catch the next installment at base theater BY STEVE SALLES Standard-Examiner movie critic T alk about your scary moments. I joined a handful of my fellow critics (who were all fellows, heartthrob Kostas (Michael Rady), sorry) and sat in the middle of a sea but to her dismay, she learns he is of estrogen in anticipation of "The married and expecting a child. Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2." Carmen (America Ferrera) decides You'd think I'd just walked into a to spend the summer in Vermont aftaping of "The Oprah Winfrey Show" ter she learns the rest of the girls all on "I Killed My Cheating Husband" „ have plans. She'll be working on the day. A couple of the ladies glared at sets of a small summer stock theater us and suggested we should think company at the suggestion of her twice about writing a bad review of Yale classmate Julia ("P2's" Rachel this film. Gulp. Nichols). In the meantime, her mom OK. Well, we rejoin the four young has remarried and is expecting a baby, and they're planning a move. women from the first "Pants" three Bridget (Blake Lively), the super years later. They've gotten a year of soccer player, is going to Turkey to college behind them, and they're getwork on an archaeological dig with ting ready for a raucous summer of Professor Mehani (Shohreh Aghdashlife and love. loo). She and her dad still struggle afLena (Alexis Bledel) regrets her ter the suicide of Bridget's mom, but decision to break up with Greek she discovers a cache of letters from Grandma Greta (Blythe Danner) that could lead to some clues as to why mom checked out so early. Tibby (Amber Tamblyn) is sort of working at a small video store, where she torments her boss and the customers with her biting wit. She and her boyfriend, Brian (Leonardo Nam), have decided to "go all the way" but a mid-mingling mishap may turn Tibby into a "Juno," which should and does freak her out, to the point where she might kick Brian to the curb. So unfortunately, these BFF's have all gone their separate ways, but hopefully the good luck charm of those beloved pass-around pants will work their magic once again. What's not to love about this uber chick flick? It has infatuation and heartbreak, setbacks and determination, handsome boys and catty girls — just what you'd expect — only it doesn't go much beyond that. Frankly, if it hadn't been for Tibby's hilarious one-liners, I could have easily curled up in a ball and caught a few zzz's. And this whole idea of sharing a pair of prized jeans baffles me. I have semi-grown daughters, and they can barely share a moment, much less a pair of perfectly fitting denim. Oh, well. There you have it. Cute young women on the edge of adulthood facing life's challenges, and all from the pages of the most recent, Book Four. Not sure what happened to Books Two and Three, but I hear rumblings of a Book Five. So, I expect the "Sisterhood" will march on (depending largely on the box-office numbers), and frankly, I hope it does, because I certainly don't want to face the wrath of those ladies in the theater again, should it not. Steve Salles can be reached at films@standard.net. |