For a guy who retired more than two years ago, Claude Brown stays pretty busy.

Nearly every day, the former Boeing mechanic is out somewhere building or fixing something for one of his neighbors or another community member.

“I need a project,” Brown said recently.

From fixing a roof to a floor to electrical work and plumbing, Brown has plenty of projects, whether he is volunteering for Bonney Lake Kiwanis or at the Bonney Lake Senior Center.

This week, however, many of those projects will sit for a few days as Brown travels to Washington D.C. where he will be honored as one of the National Senior Volunteers of the Year, chosen by MetLife Foundation and National Association of Area Agencies on Aging.

Brown received his award in the category of Team Spirit.

Though he estimates he volunteers between 50 and 80 hours a month (though Charlotte, his wife of 42 years, insists its is more than that) and said when the call first came to tell him he was being honored, Brown thought it was a hoax.

“I though it was a scam!” Brown said with a laugh. “But I looked it up on line and it was a legitimate organization.”

Now, Brown’s only concern is getting to DC for the award ceremony.

“It just goes to prove my theory – No good deed goes unpunished,” he said, smiling.

“It disturbs his routine,” Charlotte added, shaking his head.

Claude may joke about the honor, but Charlotte said she knew it had to be legitimate right away and she says there is no doubt her husband’s volunteerism deserves to be recognized.

“I was thrilled from the minute I got the phone call because I thought he deserved it,” Charlotte said. “To me, it’s like for a lifetime of work because he’s always helped everybody.”

Claude Brown, 66, was born in Spokane and grew up on a farm, helping his father work on the family’s farm machinery as well as seven rental properties they owned.

“My dad was a jack of all trades,” Claude said.

“I think he learned his building skills from his dad,” agreed Charlotte.

Claude spent six years in the National Guard then first worked as a machine operator for the railroad, but left when the job changed into something he didn’t enjoy. He also wanted to be closer to a friend on this side of the mountains who was dying.

Brown got a job at Boeing and worked there for 40 years before stepping away in 2009. After a short vacation, Claude joined the Kiwanis and started making appearances at the senior center, looking for projects on which he could violunteer his talents.

“That’s what he said he was going to do,” Charlotte said, adding that Claude always spoke of giving back and wanting more time to do so. They started him off doing bread runs to and from grocery stores to pick up day-old goods to deliver for the center, but soon enough Claude’s skills with the tools came to the front and now he spend his time swinging hammers and fixing whatever it is that needs to be fixed.

He has leveled floors, replaced walls, repaired roofs and ceilings, done yard work, plumbing and electrical repairs.

“I do a lot of roof and gutter cleans,” he says with a smile.

Charlotte even tells a story about the phone ringing early one morning recently because a neighbor’s toilet was running and she couldn’t get it to stop. As soon as he woke up, Claude grabbed his tools and headed over to fix it.

“I haven’t seen anything he can’t do. What’s your motto?” Charlotte said, turning to her husband. “Nothing’s impossible, some things are just harder.”

Claude disagrees, however, and says that air conditioners and heat pumps are a bit out of his bailiwick.

Claude enjoys doing the work because often it means that his neighbors or friends don’t have to move out of their homes.

“I do a lot of safety items,” Claude said. He routinely installs hand rails and ramps to homes and bathrooms to make sure seniors can get around their houses safely.

“We have a lot of seniors with a lot of issues of ingress and egress into their houses,” he said.

When there’s not a specific project, Claude spends his time cutting and chopping wood to provide to seniors and the disabled to heat their homes in the winter.

“It’s a career change,” he said. “I have a lot of talents and I like to keep active.”

Claude sees this award as an opportunity to challenge others to give back as well and said he looks forward to getting back from D.C. and back into the work he knows waits for him.

“I think he needs more projects,” Charlotte said with a laugh.