Another good turnout April 17 with 36 members attending. President Ken D’Ambrosio ran a quick business meeting because this was the night of the Three-Wood Challenge and it would occupy most of the meeting.

Club Acquisition

    The club's new acquisition, a used Delta Mini Lathe which the club voted to purchase from Woodcraft, will be used as a loaner to club members who either don’t have a lathe yet or who want to try one out before buying. It was decided that members could have the loan of the lathe for 30 days with a 30-day renewal. People who borrow the lathe should sign a release form in case they are injured. When Ken asked who wanted to borrow the lathe first, it was Elizabeth Hammond who put up her hand. Elizabeth is our youngest member and attends meetings with her Dad, Chuck.

Annual Outing

    The annual outing will be Sunday September 28 at the Cold Spring Community Center just outside Wickford. We will need people to work on the plans. There will be an auction of turnings to raise money for the club with a percentage going to a charity.

List Distribution

 Two lists were distributed. One lists members who welcome visitors to their shops. The other is a list of members who want turning lessons.

Volunteers Needed

 Woodcraft  needs volunteer turners to put on mini-demonstrations on Saturday May 17, 1-4 p.m. (You’ll be home in time for cocktail hour.) Nothing elaborate has to be made. Just let chips fly to catch the interest of customers. You need not be there all the time. A couple of hours would be great. Call Woodcraft to register or see Jeff Mee at our May meeting.

Suggested Meeting Place

  In answer to our request for suggested meeting places, Robert Smith of Westerly suggested the Westerly Senior Center where there is a woodworking shop. The place is available on third Thursdays. Ken will visit the place to check it out. The club membership decided in March to stay at Woodcraft as it is a handy location being in the middle of the state. However when the turnout exceeds 40 the classroom gets crowded. There are more than 80 persons in the club.

The Library

     The library has been expanded with seven new videos. Bill Smith will have them available for borrowing soon.

Club Website

    The website for the club (http://members.cox.net/ocean-woodturners/) looks great. You can have photos in your own gallery on the site. Just send them to our webmaster, Richard LaRowe at rplarowe@snet.net.

Treasurer's Report

    Treasurer Bob Hopkins reports we have $1,488.95 in our treasury.

THREE-WOOD CHALLENGE

    The THREE-WOOD CHALLENGE was a real crowd pleaser. Members brought in 25 entries turned from wood donated by Master Gardener Betsey Thompson and her husband and Greg Drew. The Thompsons  were our guests for the evening. The selection of turnings was quite good although we noticed that some members really had a thing for wooden martini glasses!

2002 Symposium Project

    It was decided that the club’s 2002 Symposium Project, the replica steam engine, will be our demo for the next meeting. We have so many new members, many have not seen this work of art. So come out  May 15 to see this great machine and hear how it was made.

SHOW & TELL

    SHOW & TELL time was a bit abbreviated because of the challenge. Returning snowbird John Chakuroff, one of our original members, brought a carved barn swallow that he did while sitting poolside in Florida. He also showed a gavel and block. George Nazareth produced two more segmented bowls (there’s no truth to the rumor that he has a factory in China cranking out these things) and Mike Ferrance produced a mortar and pestle.

Woodturning Symposium

    There will be a woodturning symposium Oct. 25, 26 in Albany, N.Y. sponsored by the Adirondack Woodturners Association. They are looking for presenters as well as people to attend. If you sign up before June 15, the cost is $60. After that it is $75. To encourage early registration for every group of 6 registrants of the club, one free registration will be given to the club. Rudi Hempe has the details