​Cooper Dan Zaroski

Dan learned how to cooper from Daniel Pearson at Fort William Historical Park during the summers of 1980-87.  Fort William Historical Park is set in the early 1800s thus his training involved the use of traditional hand tools, while working pine, cedar and occasionally oak.  After becoming a teacher and moving to the Toronto area, he worked briefly at the cooperage at Black Creek Pioneer village.  In the early 1990s he was a volunteer at the Whitchurch- Stouffville Museum, demonstrating coopering in their barn.  For years he travelled to many of the smaller museums in Southern Ontario, demonstrating traditional coopering.  In 2001 he became a high school administrator, which limited his woodworking time.  Recently Dan has decided to dust off his tools and get back into coopering.  With an emphasis on learning new, modern aspects of this trade he is gathering information about wine barrels, while taking on the occasional creative project. In June of 2019, Dan retired as a high school principal.  Currently working out of a home workshop, he spends some of his time creating new items out of old wine barrels and making historical reproductions .  Dan is a volunteer at the Whitchurch-Stouffville Museum and a member of the Newmarket Historical Society.  He is available to speak to groups about coopering and/or do demonstrations in museum settings. To see his latest project and other coopering "reels," follow Dan on Instagram:  @Workshop.Wonders