July 2024 Newsletter

Here we are more than half way through the year. We had a great meeting last Monday night, and it was very well attended with 46 in attendance and another 8 or so on Zoom.

Candice Strong from Tricia’s Troops introduced her organization to us. Tricia’s Troops is an organization that supports people who are going through cancer treatment. The way this relates to woodturning is they can accept donated wig stands. Candice also mentioned that they might also have a use for small lidded boxes as a repository for inspirational saying that cancer fighters find meaningful during their journey.

Club member Bob Leonard gave an excellent demonstration on what he calls “Slipper Bowls” – these are small natural edge bowls made from branch wood. We have a recording of the demo and will post it on this site. Bob also demonstrated his “Frugal Vacuum Pump.” I believe I saw a club member carrying his new vacuum pump set-up up the stairs after the meeting.

I “streamlined” the meeting last Monday night because of all we had on the agenda. There were very few announcements so make sure you read the list below. Even though we pushed things a bit, It was still just a few minutes before 9:00 PM when the last of us walked out of Woodcraft.

Announcements:

• There will be no workshop day in July because I am out of town on that weekend.
• Remember that we have a Tuition Grant from the chapter for established members who wish to take a course in woodturning at an established institution (such as Mark Adams, Arrowmont, The Clearing, etc.) The link above requires sign in to the club web site to access.
• nourishMKE Community Food Centers (formerly Frieden’s Food Pantry) has announced the date of their Empty Bowls event for 2024 – Sunday, October 13th 2024. Ron Zdroik showed a few Empty Bowls last evening and is beginning to collect them. Bowls need to be turned in no later than the October meeting.
• Ron also showed a few Bead of Courage boxes that he will be turning in to Children Hospital in the near future.

Have a great July (what remains of it) and we hope to see you next month at the August Meeting.