PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE: Hello! I hope you all had a good summer! The weather wasn’t the best, but sometimes that means there is more time for carving. This will be my 7th year as the president. That means you either like what I’m doing or no one is motivated enough to run. I operate on the principle that you like what I’m doing. I do feel invigorated for this year. I just got back from two beach vacations and I stopped at the Ward Wildfowl Museum in Salisbury MD. They have some awesome bird carvings there and I may try a few later in the year.
We have had more people helping out in the last year or two and we seem to be able to get a decent stride going, even in the face of declining memberships in clubs like ours. We had many good meetings last year. I am looking forward to another great year for the LIWCA. Please make an effort to come down and participate – that is the key to a healthy club! Keep Carving! Frank
June meeting: This was a carving meeting. We also had a very productive business meeting session. During this session, we voted on a couple of issues. As expected, the Competition drives down the Treasury and we have approximately $200.00 to start the year. A motion was raised to increase the dues to $20.00 as they have not been increased in many years. The motion was voted on and carried. We also had a motion to stop the practice of awarding prize money for the competition. This was voted on and passed 22 to 5. We should be in okay financial shape for the year. Please continue to support the 50/50 and the dark horse, because after dues, that is our only income.
We held our annual elections in June and the slate of officers shown above were all voted back in. However, Phil Gonsowski has indicated that he has been doing the library for many years now and he is ready for someone else to take over. We’re waiting for someone to step in. Pete Battaglia said that he has been handling the coffee for four years and due to some time constraints, he might not be able to do it this year. No one stepped up, so we may or may not have coffee at the future meetings. We’ll see what happens in September – note that we may have a “taker” for this one already. That’s a good sign of cooperation and we haven’t even started yet!
We also presented the Joe Cella award for the year. Roger Schroeder made the presentation of our traditional plaque to Skip Goodwin. Roger again noted that each year, the “right” person seems to win the award and I have to agree. Skip has been very active in the club lately and he has obtained all of that excellent basswood and is selling it at a great price while donating $1 to the club for each piece bought. In addition, he has been active in donating carvings to the veterans at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital. THANK YOU SKIP FOR ALL YOU DO – CONGRATULATIONS!
Seminar News – Stu Martin will be here on October 9th, 10th and 11th. We will carve on Friday night from 6 PM to 9 PM and Saturday and Sunday from 9 to 5. Stu will carve any of his roughouts. Frank Barry has been contacting those who signed up for full payments or deposits. The cost of the seminar will be $175. We’ll have a maximum of 12 in the class. Please let me know a/s/a/p if you are signed up and may not make it. Also let me know if you want to be on the waiting list. Somehow, every year, we manage to work it out where all who are on the waiting list get in to the class. I should note that of the 12 people who took the seminar last year – ALL 12 SIGNED UP AGAIN!!! That speaks volumes about the quality of the instruction and the value of the carving. See Frank Barry for details.
September Event - I have also committed us to setting up an exhibit at the Fall Festival at the Bayard Cutting Arboretum in Oakdale in September. I’m looking for a few more people to help out and for some carvings to display. I’m particularly interested if you have a cypress knee carving that you can lend us for the weekend. No sales allowed though. I have to have our diplay plans approved, so see Frank Barry soon if you want to participate.
September Meeting: This will be a combination carving meeting and we will have a presentation. We will have a presentation on finishes using some specific techniques and some finishing items will be for sale.
Sad news: Ed Carey, a member of the club for several years passed away on 08/09/09 after a lengthy bout with cancer. Ed was a welcome addition to our club and he was pretty outspoken about a few issues. One thing that I remember about Ed was how much he wanted us to help out with the restoration of Nunley’s carousel a few years ago, but he got sick and couldn’t pursue this at the time. He attended a meeting at the end of 2008 and presented Joel with a gnome hat in appreciation of some of the things that Joel taught him over the years. He will be missed!
MISC:
• Ed Conti’s contact info is: 516-799-1684 or by email to liwca_club@yahoo.com
• This years dues are being increased to $20 based on a vote in June. Due now.
• Thanks to Charles LaMorgese for running the dark horse and Steve Aguanno for the 50/50.
• Skip Goodwin acquired some excellent basswood plaques and wood and is offering it to you for a great price. He is also donating $1 per piece to the club. See Skip for details.
Meeting Dates for the calendar year: **= change from the normal date you would expect
Tuesday club meetings:
09/08/09
10/13/09
11/10/09
12/08/09
Wednesday “open carving meetings”:
09/16/09
10/21/09
11/18/09
12/16/09
