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Election of Club Officers — November 8, 2025

At the November 8, 2025 meeting, the club elected the following officers and board members:

President: Ben Johnson
Vice President: Mike Skiba
Treasurer: Paul Moore
Secretary: David Wimberly

Board Members:

Tom Anderson
Joe Fernandez
Patrick McMahon

The Program Chair position remains vacant, and the club is seeking a volunteer to fill this important role. Members interested in serving are encouraged to contact a board member for more information.

Thank You to Our Outgoing Officers

The club extends its sincere appreciation to our outgoing officers for their time, leadership, and dedication. Your willingness to serve has helped strengthen our organization, support our members, and guide the club forward. The work you have done—often behind the scenes—has made a lasting impact, and we are grateful for your commitment and service.

Thank you for all you have given to the club.

President's Challenge for 2026

The President's Challenge is a club-wide monthly turning challenge. Each month will have a specific theme. To quality, you must bring the item to that month's show-n-tell. These do not have to be your best work, or even particularly good. The goal is to get you out in your shop and turn something, as well as to try things you might not normally turn. This year we are bringing back the “Iron Man” challenge. At the annual Christmas party in December all those who participate in the President's Challenge will be eligible for a prize in a random drawing. Those with the highest level of participation will be given special recognition and a special prize.

January 10, 2026 - “Leave the Sand at the Beach” - Make an item and present it having not sanded it. Smooth it with a sharp tool. Show off those smoothing final cuts

February 14, 2026 - “A Place to Keep My Heart” - make a lidded box to hold the treasures of someone special. Any shape, threaded or not, and size doesn't matter.

March 14, 2026 - “'Eggs'citing Eggs – Hey, it's Easter. “Lathe” an egg or two.

April 11, 2026 - “Going Out on a Limb” - yep, turn something from a limb and not the trunk. Wood movement? Deal with it. The greener the better, let's see what happens.

May 9, 2026 - “Be Captivating” - turn something with a captive ring. Come on, you know you've been wanting to try this.

June 13, 2026 - “How Thin Can You Spin?” = Take your cutting skills to the limit and turn it extra thin, whether it's a bowl, hollow form, platter, finial or what-have-you.

July 11, 2026 - “Platters Matter” - turn a plate, platter, saucer, plaque, etc. Flat and round is what counts.

August 8, 2026 - Have an “Off” Day – do some offset turning and show it off.

September 12, 2026 - “Membership Required” - Turn something based on an article in AAW's monthly magazine.

October 10, 2026 - “Cornucopia” - Thanksgiving is coming. Make some fruit to fill the horn of plenty.

November 14, 2026 - “Toys for Tots” - Get creative and make something for the children in your world, even if that child is you! Tops, kaleidoscopes, yo-yos, kendamas, or something with turned components. As long as we can play with it, it counts.

December 12, 2026 - Club Christmas Brunch and Gift Exchange

A PSA for classes at the Fayetteville Public Library. All kinds of interesting and free classes coming up at the library in October. Ones that I thought might interest folks in our group. Lasers, CNC milling, and 3D printing. All of these are short introductory courses but you must take the training before the library will allow you to use the machines in the Center For Innovation. I have taken the Laser training and will be taking the Adobe Illustrator Basic course to learn how to prepare a print for the machines. My goal is to embellish wood turnings with the laser.

Another thought, if you don’t like your mug shot on the Stateline Woodturners website, you can get a professional head shot at the library photo lab for free and it only takes a few minutes.

This is a link to the classes. Lots more classes than I described so be prepared to spend a few minutes reading. https://www.faylib.org/10978 Click on CFI Events to get to the course page. The courses I described are all in October so you will have to put in a date range. I subscribe to their newsletter and get all the courses in a neatly laid out email.

The Center for Innovation provides not only opportunities for the pursuit of artistic endeavors but also allows for technical and job skill-building. This space takes the library’s mission – empowering citizens through free and public access to knowledge – to the next level by connecting the community to technology and educational resources that may otherwise be out of reach for many. The space is open to all ages however, those under 13 must be accompanied by an adult.

Fayetteville Public Library

John Winford Harris

John Winford Harris passed away on Sunday December 21st at Peachtree Village in Farmington, Arkansas. He was born July 20, 1950 in Marked Tree, Arkansas to Carl and Ann [Winford] Harris of Marianna, Arkansas. He was a navy veteran who served on the USS Forrestal from 1971-1974 as an aviation electrician. He worked for the University of Arkansas’ department of Computing Services and was a deputy for the Washington County Sheriff’s Department. He was also mayor of Farmington, Arkansas from 2003- 2006. He loved sailing, woodworking and fishing and attended Central United Methodist Church in Fayetteville. He is survived by his daughter Jessica Ann Harris McMullen and son-in-law Jason of Bixby, Oklahoma; his sons Andrew Douglas Harris and daughter-in-law, Mandy of Colorado Springs, Colorado and John Patrick Harris and daughter-in-law Alex of Fayetteville, Arkansas. Also survived by Dottie Harris, the mother of his children. He had six grandchildren: Alex, Emma, James, Eleanor, Corbin and Hogan.
Visitation will be 11:00 am – 12:30 pm Monday December 29, 2025 at Moore’s Funeral Chapel in Fayetteville. Funeral service will be 12:30 pm following the visitation at Moore’s Funeral Chapel with burial to follow in the Fayetteville National Cemetery with military honors under the direction of Moore’s Chapel.
Memorial contributions may be made to Central United Methodist Church, 6 West Dickson Street, Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701.
To place an online tribute, please visit www.bernafuneralhomes.com

John Harris Obituary

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