Summertime is here and things are heating up! Not just the weather but with DAW as well. First of all, I would like to announce our newest Honorary Life Time Member. This gentleman has been active in DAW and served on the DAW Board of directors for more years than I want to try and count. He has been instrumental in creating, organizing and administrating the finest woodturning library of any club nationwide. Books, DVD’s, magazines on just about any subject matter regarding the art of turning wood. DVDs from SWAT and previous DAW presenters are available to you because of his hard work. To honor of his and his wife’s long term dedicated service to the Dallas Area Woodturners, the Board has determined to recognize this outstanding collection and give it a name. I am proud to announce the naming of the DAW library to be called “The Montgomery Library of Wood Turning”. Since all our memberships are family memberships Mark and Diane Montgomery are now Honorary Lifetime Members. Recent changes in the DAW By-Laws allows Mark & Diane to no longer will pay annual dues but they still retain voting privileges and can hold office.
Speaking of the By-Laws. Last month the membership voted to accept the changes in our By-Laws. I would like to Thank all of the Board Members for their diligent work which made necessary changes to have our By-Laws be congruent with the manner the club actually operates. I believe the new By-Laws have been published and will be available for your reference on the club website. The proposed changes were published as required by the previous By-Laws in the DAW newsletter prior to the club membership voting. Many thanks to all the members who voted to accept the new By-Laws as enacted at the June 15th,2023 club business meeting. This document is necessary as the DAW is an affiliated member of the American Association of Woodturners and a 501(c)(3) entity as recognized by the IRS. My thanks to all of you for making these necessary changes possible.
July’s demonstrator is an extraordinary turner with exceptional skills. You won’t want to miss our former President Jeff Edwards as he shows us how to make a 3 sided box. If you are a beginner or advanced turner the material is interesting and just a small sample of one of the great small and unusual items that can be created on the lathe. Join us for this outstanding presentation either in person or via the Zoom link.
SWAT is just around the corner and will be held in WACO August 25-27th. This will be another outstanding opportunity to learn from some the regions and world best turners, see incredible turned items at the Instant Gallery and perhaps, if your lucky, win some of the incredible donated turned wood art or the tools and wood to make them from the outstanding group of vendors in SWAT’s 3-1 raffle. Except for the AAW symposium SWAT is the largest a maybe the finest symposium of wood turning worldwide. For more information about the Lead Demonstrators and the Regional Demonstrators and to register go to SWAT’s Web page at swaturners.org. The DAW will be well represented with Charlie Tucker and Kevin Basset having been selected as regional demonstrators at SWAT. Charlie will present, “Design Considerations for Cremation Urns” and Kevin will present “Turning a Square Bowl”. It is a great honor to be selected to demonstrate at SWAT and Charlie and Kevin appreciate your encouragement and support. Do not hesitate to put some of your best turning on display in the Instant Gallery. It’s fun, educational, inspiring and, yes, a bit humbling to see the great turned wood art that is produced by members of the 27 clubs that make up the Southwest Association of Woodturners plus the items brought by the national and internationally acclaimed turners who will be at this outstanding symposium.
Help Wanted! Please consider joining us on the DAW Board of Directors. Soon it will be time to elect the Board for 2024. I’m afraid some of the current Board that have served DAW for many years will be retiring from their service to DAW. New and fresh faces and ideas are necessary for the club to continue serving the woodturners in the Dallas Area. Many hands make the load lighter and we will be needing some more fresh hands in the very near future. It’s rewarding on many levels and your skills, ideas and time is valued. Contact any of us on the Board for more information on how you can help lead the DAW into the future.
Finally, I am saddened to announce that my friend Lou Boudreaux recently lost his wife of sixty-five years. Due to Lou’s long outstanding and exceptional service to the DAW’s community outreach programs including turning hundreds of Bowls for Empty Bowls and hundreds of Boxes for the Beads of Courage programs the DAW Board is making a generous donation to Beads of Courage in Lou’s and Celia’s names. Also, we lost a DAW member of many years when Mr. Roger Smith passed away. The Board has also approved a donation to the North Texas Food Bank in Roger’s name. Roger was a strong and reliable donator to the Empty Bowls event for many years and a cherished friend and mentor to many of us in DAW.
I look forward to our next meeting and hope to see you there!
Kevin Bassett
