Well it's another January, and as I look back on last year I'm pretty happy with what we accomplished at SVW..  We had a full calendar of monthly demos and educational programs, several special events, and three professional woodturning demos held in collaboration with our friends at West Bay woodturners. A couple of collaborative events with Maker Nexus were in the mix too.

We also gained a significant number of new members in the club with experience levels ranging from entry-level turners to seasoned experts. Some of these we met through our association with Maker Nexus, others sought us out and/or just showed up at our meetings.  In all cases I hope our members have been attracted by the wealth of woodturning expertise, skill, and knowledge we love to showcase and teach. Our members always seem excited to share (and learn), whether in conversation at meetings, through their skilled demonstration, or inviting friends over to their own shops for one-on-one coaching.

In fact we've already seen what one of our newer members has learned. Thanks Dylan for doing the demo this month (he's only been seriously turning for about a year.)  :-)  And as we put the calendar together for a new year I’m reminded that a club like this doesn’t happen without the participation of lots of members.  Not just the demos, but from setup to cleanup, your cheerful volunteer help is what makes the club so enjoyable.

Speaking of volunteering, a huge thank you is due to Dennis Lillis for volunteering his shop for a quarterly ‘Sawdust Session’ to cover a few topics that we can’t adequately study in a conference room meeting. We've already held the first of these, on sanding, and by all accounts it was a great success even if a little crowded. The next one will be on finishing, and I anticipate our biggest problem may be how to limit the attendance. Again, thanks so much for doing this Dennis, if it continues to be this popular we may have to add additional sessions somewhere.

My other big shout out this month goes to Sang Park for agreeing to edit our monthly Chips and Challenge newsletter. I'm excited that we will once again have this communication tool to further our educational reach and sharing of wood turning information. We'll also get some pictures in there so you can all be inspired by each other's work, and remember how much fun we have at our events. :-)

See you at a meeting soon,

Kevin