March has passed, and it’s time to look back.
For our general meeting, we had Pete Richardson and Andy Gibson from Viable Lumber come talk to us about the wood they “rescue” and what they do with it. Andy brought along some of the ukeleles he has made; too bad he couldn’t bring in the award-winning work bench he made for the State Fair, out of live oak and Florida rosewood from Viable Lumber. Pete, as usual, was generous in giving away pieces of wood to us.
John Philips was the winner of the wood identification competition. Pete tried to stump us all with three pieces of unusual wood, all of which had been growing here in Florida. John won an apple pie.
We had lots of show and tell items, a good sign that we’re out there working on projects, and lots of good questions, a good sign that we’re paying attention.
The annual tool show in Tampa was just a week later, and we had a good turnout of members helping at our club’s tables. Terry’s marble game and Denny’s coin game were real popular. And after passers-by stopped to enjoy the games, they stayed to see some of our more sedate creations. Denny even made about 26 cents. Thank you, Mike Swart and Terry Bair, for organizing this.
This month we didn’t have a turners’ meet, due to company arriving at Denny’s house. And he’s about to have some shoulder surgery, but we have arranged to have a guest demonstration at Denny’s on April 15, our usual day. Everyone is welcome to come. James Mullins, who has won many ribbons at the State Fair, will be demonstrating on his lathe how he makes bowls with fluted sides, where the fluting curves up and around the side, among other things. We meet from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00, and you might want to bring along a chair.
Mike Swart hosted the Shop Meet this month. He modeled for us his Kreg system of drilling pocket holes. Quick and fast, as he said. Quite the nifty set up. Very tasty goodies, too. Thanks, Mike. In April, John and I will host the Shop Meet. Typically, we store the tools in the garage, even in the garage freezer, and work in the driveway, so let’s all hope the weather is agreeable.
Speaking of agreeable weather, don’t forget the picnic is scheduled for April 21 at the Rothenburger Park, which is east of I 75 on Bee Ridge. We had to pick a new spot (it seems the Twin Lakes Park has become quite popular), but I know we will appreciate having bathrooms close by. Hopefully this earlier date will give us cooler weather than last year. Be sure to sign up with Larry Simmons, so he has an idea of how many people are coming; remember that he’s getting the meat for us all.
See you all next week,
Susan
Contents of this post provided by Susan Darovec.