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And that's a wrap. My first full year as a club president is officially behind me. I'd love to say everything went exactly as planned. But that would require having a plan at the start. Suffice it to say, I did not. What I did have was some ideas of what makes a club enjoyable. I also had a great team of officers and members willing to help put those ideas into play. Some ideas worked out great. Others, not so much. But that's how we learn. You can talk about something all day long. But until you do that something, until you actually put that something into motion, you don't really know how it's going to work. There are always unexpected twists and turns to help you learn. And boy, did we learn. We learned to leverage technology. We learned to maximize the resources available to us. We learned to forge outside partnerships. The most important thing we learned was that we can never stop learning. There is always something new around the corner. I look forward to learning more in the coming year. With a lot of help from my fellow clubmates of course. | in this issue |
annual christmas party |
This year's annual Christmas dinner was held in the banquet hall at Riverside Community Center. The evening started with a brief introduction by club president Joe Payne. Nearly 50 members and guests were in attendance. Everyone was able to enjoy the many choices of food catered by Olive Garden and bid on over 20 silent auction items. A special thanks goes out to everyone who helped bring this party together, donated items for auction, made sure it felt like Christmas once we got there and helped with cleanup after the event. Your help was truly my best gift of the year. Nothings brings people together better than a whole lot of pasta, right?! |
The last meeting of 2019 started off with introductions from new members as well as a few prospective ones. Some amazing pieces were brought in for show-and-tell. Even Ted Hains made a point to bring a few pieces just to put me in my place after weeks of teasing him. Club president Joe Payne started the regular meeting by covering some old and new club business. The variable-speed kits for two jet lathes seem to be working well so far. The brake resistor on the older Powermatic has been replaced and is working well. New business included plans for adding cabinet space to the club shop. Club member Pin has generously offered to handle that for us. The club has been invited to occupy a 20' x 20' booth space at Fort Myers ArtFest 2020. The Pens for Troops program by Dan Alvo and Phil Edilla got off to a good start. Several members picked up pen blank packets and we have plenty more if you want to turn some pens for your troops. This month's meeting featured a two-for-one special on club demonstrators. |
December Open Shop DayDecember 21st, 2019 Open shop day this month was a lot of things going at the same time. Board member Craig Meyer coordinated another great session with five more Girl Scouts. Each young lady got to turn a wood and a custom-made acrylic pen with the Girl Scouts logo. Everyone did a great job helping these young ladies turn their pens. Best of all, they got to take their hard work home as souvenirs. Thanks again to Craig Meyer and the other members for their efforts to make these Girl Scouts events something to remember. Meanwhile other members practiced offset turning with the help John Gerald. |
John Gerald |
Watch Where You Watch This secret is not simple at first. Our habit is to watch the bowl gouge tip as we turn a bowl. However, the real shape of the bowl is happening elsewhere. Look at the profile of the bowl when turning, not at the cutting tool location. You will be able to see and adjust for the subtle changes being made as you turn. |