January 2024 Newsletter

We had another good turnout for our January meeting and I know we had a number of participants on the Zoom meeting. We had a number of Instant Gallery items – Tom Hipsak took pictures – we will be posting those when he gets them processed. The meeting was recorded – to view it click here.

There are quite a few announcement that were made at the meeting. I will repeat those here for those who were not able to attend:

• We’re sad to announce that club member Mel Mickey passed away on January 1. Mel was a faithful member of the club and a talented woodturner who was happy to share his knowledge and his equipment (and any wood he happened across, of which there was a lot!). HIs daughter Michelle Barnstable continues as a member of the club and was present Monday night and showed some bowls that were turned for Mel recently. Mel will be deeply missed.
• Ron Zdroik spoke about the Milwaukee Woodworking Show. MAWT will have a booth at the show. A separate email went out with the schedule and an opportunity to sign up to help with the show.
• February and March meeting dates have changed since an announcement was made last month. The February regular meeting date will be February 5 and Dennis Motl will demonstrate “Sea Forms”
• There will be a Zoom only meeting on Saturday, February 24. Donna Zils Banfield will demonstrate enhancement to turn pieces. This meeting will take the place of our regular March meeting. There will be no meeting at Woodcraft on March 4.
• Please consider signing up for the Alan Lacer event if you have not already done so. Click here for more information, or to register.
• We are planning to hold an open shop day at the Woodcraft Basement location on Saturday, January 20. The focus will be on peppermills or similar objects such as duck calls.
• We are still looking for someone to step in and assume the role of Vice President of the Milwaukee Area Woodturners, possibly with an eye toward assuming the role of President at the beginning to 2025.
• At the meeting Jay Pilling displayed some wig stands and spoke briefly about making and donating them for cancer patients who are undergoing chemotherapy. We will be passing along more information about this topic in the future.

We have an active club and there are a lot of things going on. Thank you to all who make our meetings and other activities a success.