Bottle builder finishes first project

You won't find Gar Gillis selling his empties at the bottle exchange. The Point Prim man has been saving bottles for five years, all to build a structure made out of bottles in the back yard of his Point Prim home.

"You're looking at, I call it a bottle church. I used 1,000 bottles in it, cemented together. Wine bottles, water bottles and beer bottles."

It's not quite stained glass, but the bottles do give off a warm glow. Along the back wall you'll find a cross, "Canadian Club," explains Gar.

He is quick to point out he means no disrespect, and the small building seems to fit the landscape which look out across the water.

Gillis isn't stopping at one building either, when he looks out from the kitchen window he sees a bustling bottle community.

"I'd like to build a little school house, may be general store, a couple of houses around here."

Gar's basement is the lair of a dedicated and committed hobbyist. One corner is full of Montreal Canadians gear, then there's the ball cap collection, all 1,158 of them neatly stacked into display racks.

Gar isn't sure what his next building will be. He knows the next phase of construction begins as soon as the spring arrives, and Gillis knows where to go to pray for better weather.