May 2026 Newsletter

MAWT May 2026 Newsletter

Our annual extended show and tell was the program for the May meeting. We had a wide variety of fantastic turned items.  There was sure to be something to inspire you in your turning journey. 

At the June meeting, Bob Leonard will present his staved lidded bowl for the Beads of Courage program. We will have a short presentation by a representative from Children’s Hospital on the Beads of Courage program for children going through cancer treatment.

In July, we will not have the regularly scheduled Monday evening meeting and instead will have a special demonstration on Saturday, July 25th.  Rob Nelson will demonstrate hollowing and will turn an enclosed form.  There will be no charge for members for this special event, but you will have to bring your own lunch.

In September, Matt Monaco will be visiting from his studio in Missouri.  https://www.monacobowls.com/ He will be doing a demo on Saturday, September 26 on advanced bowl turning. The charge for this special event is $45 for the day long demo which includes lunch.  

We are offering hands-on classes with Matt on the following Sunday and Monday.  See our website, www.mawturners.com for details and to sign up for the demo and the classes.

EMPTY BOWLS

Empty Bowls is a fund-raising event coordinated by NourishMKE, a non-profit organization that is Milwaukee’s largest network of community food pantry centers.

In early October, they host a large fund-raising event where people can buy bowls and sample soups from numerous local restaurants. Although most of the bowls are ceramic, of special interest are the wood bowls and the Milwaukee Area Woodturners has been proudly donating turned bowls to this event for many years. In the past, the club donated a few dozen bowls and that has grown greatly to over 250 recently. Last year we had about 175 and it would be great to get back to 250. If each member made just two bowls, we would be there! You have time to fire up your lathes and start turning, the Empty Bowls event isn’t until early October. 

The details:

The bowls should be about 4″-7″ in diameter and 2″-3″ deep. 

They do not need to be Food-Safe – the majority are for decorative use and not for food. 

They can be simple or be a bit more creative! 

Turn a couple or turn a lot (some members have turned dozens and even over a hundred!!!)

Drop them off at club meetings. The last drop-off is the September meeting.

You can also volunteer to do a bowl turning demo at this event.

If you have any questions, please talk to me –

Ron Zdroik

Youth Turning Program 

MAWT is beginning the planning to develop this new program with a team of volunteers.  

Open Shop day

Our next open shop day is from 9:30 to noon.  Contact Tony to participate. 

See you in June.

Kevin Seigworth,

MAWT President