March 8, 2025 Club Meeting
Business
Top Spinning Contest: Randy Wright, president, noted that the spin times from last month’s contest are now posted on the back wall. Later he passed out certificates to the winners who were present.
Financial Report: Joe Fernandez provided the following.
· The club $5,000 CD matured and was renewed for another 6 months at 3.9%.
· The rent payment was made at the new $375/month rate.
· Insurance payment is due April 1 and will be made toward the end of the month.
· The club tax forms have been filed.
Club Greeter: Randy introduced Tom Anderson who is now acting as the club greeter, though all members should assist in making sure everyone feels welcome. Tom then introduced Joel Funk, a new visitor from Siloam Springs who is the owner of a new lathe.
New Initiatives: Pauline Stutsman has taken a lead with many club activities and reported on the following.
· We have been using the AAW logo and need to develop our own logo so as not to have to pay the AAW if we print that logo on merchandise we wish to sell (a fund-raising activity previously approved by the club). She has 8 different large logos and 2 small ones (for letter head type use) on the web site. A link is provided to members on the home page to vote for their favorites, with voting open through the end of the March.
· The tabs at the top of the club web page have been consolidated by adding drop downs for the Club in Action, Member Resources, and About Us tabs.
· Online donations may now be made on the web site via the Donations tab. That takes you to a page where you may select between a donation for Club Support or for the Member Memorial Fund.
· The club is challenging members to get involved via the new Woodturning League. It can be found under the Club in Action tab and offers monthly challenges to members. You will self-report the challenges you met, and prizes will be awarded to winners. Go there to read about this new opportunity.
Estate Giving: Joe and David Morris have investigated how an individual could bequeath a part of their estate to the club. David, a retired lawyer, has agreed to assist anyone wanting to do this by drawing up an addendum to an existing will. You would need to notify relatives and the executor of this plan, but then only need to staple it to your will.
Urns for Kaden’s Cause: Lisa with Kaden’s Cause (kadenscause.org) joined our meeting via video conference to encourage club members to donate cremation urns to there non-profit. Their mission is to support low wealth families affected by the tragedy of losing a child. Urns they collect from ours, and other clubs, are provided free to those families during this extremely difficult time. Urns can be very small for baby ashes or normal size. John Adams has volunteered to ship all donated urns to Lisa.
Upcoming Events:
· April 5th is a hands-on event being held at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts. Five volunteers are needed to teach public participants simple turning. Past participants have found this to be a lot of fun.
· The Roger’s Wellness Center is having their annual Fair April 4th where they are expecting 1,000 people. For $100 the Club can have a table with items for sale and could also have a lathe to demonstrate turning. Look for a post with more information.
· Our April 12th meeting will be an all-day event featuring J. Paul Fennell demonstrating Hollow Form Turning and Piercing. The following day he will teach these techniques to six students who have already signed up.
· The Roger’s Historical Museum is having a family day on June 7th where there should be lots of people. The Rogers Woodcarvers will be there with a table. This is another opportunity for our club to showcase itself, so volunteers will be needed.
Show and Tell:
· Jim Swank was the only beginner and brought a turned pen in resin.
· Tom Anderson brought a bowl from a board, commenting on how difficult it was to turn.
· Larry Copas brought a Danish cord stool, with front and back rungs of different height for shorter or taller people to have a comfortable footrest. This was his first use of Danish cord. He mentioned that he has photographs of the build process on the club site under his profile. He also brought a half-moon earring.
· Ben Johnson brought a spalted maple bowl and talked of microwaving the blank over months to help dry it out. It was finished with Tung oil, beeswax and carnauba.
· Frank Emetario brought a cherry bowl and a Viking bowl in sycamore based on Glenn Lucas’s video. Both finished with Waterlux.
· Randy Wright brought three turned boxes of different sizes: a sycamore, a bodark, and a cherry. All were finished with a wipe on polyurethane.
· Debra Ness brought a walnut bowl and a red resin apple with carved green leaves and a turned stem. She won best in the advanced category.
Bring Back Raffle: Ben Johnson chose first picking a piece by Frank Emetario, who will receive a free ticket next month.
Special $10 Raffle: Paul Moore won the plate/platter turned by Nick Cook during a demonstration last year.
Jesse Horn with Easy Wood Tools: Jesse has 22 years of experience turning and came to demonstrate the Easy Wood tools. He turned a lidded box from a 4”x4”x4” Mahogony blank. He used an Easy Wood Chuck (change out the jaws in 60 seconds versus 6 minutes) and a variety of their carbide tools. Throughout the process he provided thorough explanations and answered questions. The piece he made was very impressive and was left with the club. His YouTube channel is The Turning Post.
Attendance: Approximately 45 with 1 guest, a great turnout.