The President's Corner - February 2012

We are off to a fast start this new year! Fred Ford and his crew have begun work on the 2012 Toys For Tots project, scrounging wood and looking for good deals on wood & parts. Jeff Leimberger is doing a great job,  lining up presenters for 2013 and has commitments from 2 nationally known speakers. While there is “many a slip between the cup and the lip”, and these guys are really difficult to pin down, I am confident that he will get them scheduled. That puts us way ahead of where we were this time last year.

I know you all keep reading this in my monthly message and I want to explain that this project is so important to so many that I want to keep reminding everyone of the great need. Please consider what you can give to the T4T project to keep it afloat in the future. Donations can be kept confidential. Hugh Fish or any Board member will be happy to accept your gift. I encourage all of you who have not participated so far to get involved this year. It takes very little time and the rewards are great.

As you know, at each meeting I try to recognize someone who is particularly valuable to the club. This past meeting I spoke about  Diane Philyaw.  She can’t often attend our regular meetings because of health and so many new members may not have had a chance to meet her. She is a past president and past board member and currently our Newsletter editor and Facebook person. She is one of the movers and shakers in the T4T effort each year. Her workshops turn out the largest volume of toys every year. Take a look at the newsletter sometime and think about the effort which goes into gathering all the articles and arranging them and then adding all the extras. By the way, she also fixes the mistakes we authors make every month. She is also responsible for our having a new webmaster. We were discussing the need for someone with the time and knowledge necessary to do that job at a board meeting when she left the room for a few minutes. She came back with a new member and webmaster, her husband Roger.

Roger Philyaw has been diligently working on making our website more inviting and informative and to shut down the old website as soon as we can get some information transferred to the new site. Please be sure you are checking only the new site for things concerning TWA like our calendar and newsletters. Also, from the new website, you can access our new Facebook page.

We  started this year off with a particularly good program. Matt Hobbs covered how to make drawers and fit them to a carcass. I don’t know about your experiences, but I have had drawers come out as parallelograms, twisted, too loose, and otherwise wrong. Most of the time I have been able to “fix” them, but they were never “right.” It sure would be nice if I could make them fit correctly the first time, at least most of the time.

This month we will continue with Mark Todd talking about how he works with clients to design their furniture and leading us through construction of a typical piece in his workshop. He will discuss his use of jigs to ensure repeatability in his standard lines and then show us his finishing techniques that lead to customers running their hands over his furniture time after time.

 

My last item for this month is that we are asking members to invite a guest you think would enjoy our club to visit and join. We aren’t suggesting a hard sell, but if you know someone who might enjoy it, please invite them to a meeting. To that end, we will have flyers available for you to give to your prospective guests.

Hope to see many faces in February!

President: Allan Campbell

The President's Corner - January 2012

The Presidents Corner

We have just finished another year and with it another Toys for Tots effort. From any viewpoint it was another great success. Those who worked on the project produced over 2500 toys ranging from VW Beetles to much more complex toys for older kids. Those folks can take pride in having made a better Christmas for over 2500 children. Our December meeting was at the Preserve in Wake Forest and was dedicated to the Toys for Tots effort. Thanks go to Charles Buenzli for arranging the location and to all who provided the great food for the social hour. Fred Ford emceed and recognized the people who worked at the various workshops throughout the year. I am very sure a good time was had by all. I know Fred Ford and all his elves will soon begin work on next year’s program. I encourage all of you who have not participated to get involved next year. It takes very little time and the rewards are great.

We are accepting donations for the Toys for Tots program. With the rising cost of materials we are in need of some help to keep going. As this program brings so many members together for a day of fun, work, and getting to know each other, it would be a tradgedy if we were not able to continue. Please consider what you can give to keep this worthy project afloat. Donations of all sizes are welcome and yours can be kept confidential if you like. Hugh Fish or any Board member will be happy to accept your gift.

Our webmaster is still working on making our website more inviting and informative and is shutting down the old site as soon as information is transferred to the new site. Please be sure you are checking only the new site for things concerning TWA- like our calendar and newsletters. Also, from the new website, you can access our new Facebook page, be sure to check it out.

We are starting 2012 off with a particularly good program. Matt Hobbs will cover how to make drawers and fit them to a carcass. I don’t know about your experiences, but I have had drawers come out as parallelograms, twisted, too loose, and otherwise wrong. Most of the time I have been able to “fix” them, but they were never “right”. It sure would be nice if I could make them fit correctly the first time, at least most of the time.

My last item for this month is that we are asking members to invite a guest you think would enjoy our club to visit and join. We aren’t suggesting a hard sell, but if you know someone who might enjoy it, please invite them to a meeting. To that end, we will have flyers available for you to give to your prospective guests.

Hope to see many faces in January!

President: Allan Campbell

The President's Corner - December 2011

In my last column I mentioned that Pete Bucki had submitted an entry into the Worksharp manufacturer’s monthly contest and won some additional products to be raffled for the benefit of Toys for Tots. These items, including a Worksharp 3000 will be raffled off to benefit the Toys for Tots program. The details of the next raffle will be decided shortly and I expect them to begin in early 2012. The current raffle will take place at the December T4T fun meeting.

While on the subject of Toys for Tots, we are accepting donations for the program to continue. We informed everyone earlier of the rising cost to continue this worthy program. We are very concerned with our ability to continue if help is not received. Please consider what you can give to help keep this worthy project afloat in the future. If your company gives yearly donations to help with their tax breaks - please suggest they consider a donation to TWA to help us keep up the good work we do. If you know of any institution we can contact to solicit for a donation, please provide us with contact information and we will take it from there. Donations can be kept confidential if you like. Hugh Fish or any Board member will be happy to accept your gift.

 

At our last meeting I recognized Bruce Wrenn for his efforts in cutting out, sanding, routing and drilling an astounding 1200 VW bodies. By preparing them to various stages of completion, he has made the T4T workshops run much more smoothly.

Roger Philyaw has been diligently working on making our website more inviting and informative. He has asked me to remind everyone that the old website is being shut down as soon as we can get some information transferred to the new site and that the old site is not being updated. Please be sure you are checking only the new site for things concerning TWA like our calendar and newsletters. Also, from the new website, you can access our new Facebook page.

Chris Gouchnour gave us an informative presentation at our last meeting, describing his career and covering a wide variety of items in a question and answer session.

December will be our 2011 Toys for Tots finale. We will meet at the Preserve Club House at 1153 Smith Creek Way, Wake Forest, NC 27587 on December 13th at 7:00pm (6:00 for setup crew and 6:30 for those bringing toys or finger foods). This is gearing up to be another great event with Roy Underhill as our Guest Speaker, the Worksharp raffle drawing, and lots of toys delivered to the Marines. Please be sure to attend and bring your spouse or significant other to enjoy the festivities.

My last item for this month is that we are asking members to invite a guest you think would enjoy our club to visit and join. We aren’t suggesting a hard sell, but if you know someone who might enjoy it, please invite them to a meeting. To that end, we will have flyers available for you to give to your prospective guests.

Hope to see many faces in December!

President: Allan Campbell

The President's Corner - November 2011

At our October meeting, we recognized Pete Bucki for his efforts in obtaining a Worksharp 3000 and attachments to be raffled for the benefit of the Toys for Tots project. The last time I wrote this column, I said that the Worksharp raffle would be a great help, but only a one-time thing. As usual, my prediction was wrong. Pete was not satisfied with just one Worksharp and submitted an entry into the manufacturer’s monthly contest and has won some additional products to be raffled for the benefit of Toys for Tots.

While on the subject of Toys for Tots, there is still time to help at a workshop or to make some toys on your own, be sure to sign up to help make it a great year for kids. Please give a day or ½ day to make the project a big success. It is not much work and you get to spend time with other members all for a good cause.

Special: We are accepting donations for the Toys for Tots program to continue. We informed everyone last month of the rising cost to continue this worthy program. We are very concerned with our ability to continue if funding help is not received. Please consider what you can give to help keep this worthy project afloat in the future. Donations can be kept confidential if you like. Hugh Fish or any Board member will be happy to accept your gift.

Roger Philyaw has been diligently working on making our website more inviting and informative. He has asked me to remind everyone that the old website is being shut down as soon as we can get some information transferred to the new site and that the old site is not being updated. Please be sure you are checking only the new site for things concerning TWA like our calendar and newsletters.

Amy Dowden stepped up on pretty short notice to fill in for Chris Gouchnour who needed to be rescheduled to November. She spoke on and demonstrated “Google Sketchup”, a computer-aided drafting program which is a free download at www.Sketchup.Google.com. It was a great presentation. I have tried to understand several CAD programs and failed. There was just too much of a learning curve for something I would not use every day. (I am really good at forgetting things I don’t use frequently.) After Amy’s presentation, I am ready to try again. I think I actually understand what’s going on. She did a great job and has agreed to be a mentor for those of us who try Sketchup and need a bit of guidance.
The November meeting will be on Friday the 18th, not Tuesday the 15th as previously planned. Chris Gouchnour will be speaking and there will be a workshop on the 19th and 20th at Roy Underhill’s shop in Pittsboro.

My last item for this month is that we are asking members to invite a guest you think would enjoy our club to visit and join. We aren’t suggesting a hard sell, but if you know someone who might enjoy it, please invite them to a meeting. To that end, we will have flyers available for you to give to your prospective guests.

Hope to see many faces in November!

President: Allan Campbell

The President's Corner - October 2011

On September 20th Klingspor hosted the 3rd Annual North Carolina Woodworking Showcase. TWA was a sponsor as in the past. The event was a success, largely due to the support of TWA. We help with workers, competition entries, and we donate $75 for the “Woodworker’s Choice Award.” The event ran like clockwork with our members manning registration, judging, demonstrations and checkout. My thanks to all who helped. The only negative was low participation. We learned this year and plan to do more promotion and advertising in the furture for this event. I suggest that each of us try to build something during the coming year to enter in the next Showcase.

At our last Board meeting elections and appointments were held. Joe Gorman - Secretary, Jeff Leimberger - Vice President & Program Chair, Hugh Fish - Treasurer, Charles Buenzli - Publicity Chair, and Chuck Arnold - Facilities and Refreshment chair.

You may remember that we have been looking for someone to act as webmaster. Roger Philyaw graciously agreed to take over that role. Thanks to Diane Philyaw, we now have a Facebook page. You can find it by going to our website and clicking the link.

Toys for Tots has begun its season, be sure to sign up and help make it a good year for needy kids. Please give a day or ½ day to make it a big success. It is not hard work and the benefit for us is spending time with other members. You get to know some folks you may not have had the opportunity to speak to much. As our economy has made it rough on many families the need for assistance at Christmas has increased tremendously.

Club finances were discussed at the last board meeting. As a club we are in good shape. Last year however, we spent more than we took in. Some of that was intentional and some a bit of a surprise. We intentionally spent some of our reserve funds (about $1100) to celebrate the 25th year of our Toys for Tots participation. The surprise was in the cost of T4T materials. In 2008/2009 we spent $300 on wheels, in 2009/2010 roughly $600 for the same number of wheels, but in 2010/2011 the cost jumped to over $2500. That level of expense is not sustainable on our present income, so something has to be done. We do not intend to take the Federal approach and spend ourselves into oblivion. We also do not plan to cut back on the number of toys we produce. As a result, we are working on ways to cut costs, get more for our dollars and to get a few more dollars. One thing that will be a big help this year is the raffle of the Worksharp 3000 that Pete Bucki has arranged for us. This will generate around $1,000, which is fantastic, but only a onetime thing. Fred Ford has bought wheels that are designated “seconds,” which he reports are perfectly usable. We are also reaching out to various sources for wood donations and/or discounts. Anchor Hardwoods has already donated a pickup load of oak. If you know anyone who may have wood they would be willing to donate please contact Joe Gorman, he handles materials for the Toys for Tots project.

A wonderful thing has happened, we started receiving confidential donations to ensure the continuance of this very important program. Each donation has been for $100.00 so far which is very much appreciated and needed. Our treasurer Hugh Fish is collecting all donations. If you would like to help and make a donation yourself, please contact Hugh or any Board member or Committee Chairman, they will be happy to help you out. One of the folks who donated $100 has put out a challenge to others to match that donation - however - any amount would be greatly appreciated. We will be happy to keep you donation confidential if you wish. Please consider donating what you can for this very good cause.

The October mystery has been solved and a huge Thank You to Any Dowden for saving us. She will be showing us how to use is Sketchup, a free computer aided drafting (CAD) program from Google. She has taught classes on how to use Sketchup and this should be a particularly interesting and helpful program. Please note that our meeting will now be a regular Tuesday meeting.

Also note that the November meeting will be on Friday the 18th, not Tuesday the 15th as previously planned. Chris Gouchnour will be our guest and is providing a workshop on the 19th & 20th at Roy Underhill’s shop in Pittsboro.

My last item for this month is that we are asking members to invite people they think would enjoy our club to visit and join. We aren’t suggesting a hard sell, but if you know someone who might enjoy it, please invite them to a meeting. To that end, we will have flyers available for you to give to your prospective guests.

Hope to see many faces in October!

President: Allan Campbell