The Villages Woodshop Club
October 13, 2015
Laurel Manor
Meeting called to order by President Mike Borfitz
Membership and Visitor Tally – Introduction of new members
Six attendee’s introduced themselves.
Our records show that we had 861 active members in 2015. On October 1, we started taking 2016 dues. By October 2 at noon we had 120 dues paid. The members present were reminded that the earlier a member pays his dues, the better choice he/she has for their monitor duty. At the time of the meeting, there were 13 members awaiting certification.
Since the last meeting we have entertained 87 guests.
New Opportunities –
a) Recently The Club was contacted to play a part in the visit of the Viet Nam War wall which begins on November 9. Bill Ahlgren, one of our resident Marines, has graciously agreed to manage this effort. In addition to finding two strong willing members to oversee volunteers who will erect the display, we were invited to display our wares at a booth. In keeping with the theme of the military display, we have agreed to display the storyboard of the Eagle Cane Project and to feature the Urns for Indigent Veterans. In addition, we believe that people visiting the exhibit might be very interested in purchasing patriotic turned pens as well as bolt-action pens. To that end Frank Giaconne has been turning pens for the event.
b) Annual Special Olympics Tree – The Special Olympics group has approached us with a request to buy and decorate a Christmas tree for their fund raiser. In the past we have topped or tied the top in money-making for them. Last year we won first prize for the best themed tree on display. We already have decided that the train that John Scott made and donated will be under the tree. A plea was made for a chairperson for this effort. Pam MacMann volunteered for this role.
Christmas Party – After the overwhelmingly positive vote to consider catering the Christmas party, Larry Phillips agreed to chair this effort. He presented a package to the Board whereby the Club contributed an amount towards the dinner and the members attending paid a ticket price. The plan adopted has each member paying $10 per person (himself/herself and a guest if desired). The Club will pick up the difference.
Alice Besler has been collecting goods for the annual Christmas raffle and door prizes. In addition, we will be conducting a silent auction on a very special piece. Recently, Bob Bell was able to procure a donation of a 30-year-old slab of redwood. John Justice and Roy Lancicome have turned that piece of wood into the top of a bar-height table. They are currently building two wooden stools to go with it! Sales for the raffle and the silent auction will begin in November.
Colonial Days -
We have submitted our request for the same amount of space that we had last year and Nancy’s committee is busily gearing up for an Americana theme for that too. Frank is ready to duplicate all the colored pens that are sold at the Viet Nam War wall for Colonial Days!
Damage in the Parking Lot – In September, John Herega left the Shop for the day only to find that someone had hit the back of his car. (pictures were shared). There was no notification at the front desk nor was there a note. The back was actually split open; so, the whole piece had to be replaced, an expense near $1000. Members who might have witnessed this accident or know anything about it, were urged to notify John and to be alert to any such happenings.
Toy Department Guidelines – As the Club has been working at establishing the budget for 2016, the Toy Department reported that they would need to nearly double the amount that had been in the budget for this year. Donations to the toys, sales on the square and fountain pennies cannot cover all of that. Naturally as outside organizations learn of the available toys, they request more and more. Conway asked the Board to provide some guidance for the Toy Department. At the September meeting, the Board approved the following guidelines which will go into effect in 2016.
Proposal to Provide Guidelines for Toy Production at VWC
Background: Whereas “building toys for needy children” was one of the founding tenets for establishing The Villages Woodworkers Club, it is important to retain that function. As the department has increased production over the years, more organizations in the area have become aware of this generous practice resulting in increasing requests for toys. With the growth of the Club, it is also important to provide some direction for the Toy Department such that they can perform their function with goals in mind rather than facing a never-ending increase in production.
Proposal: Be it proposed that the Toy Department of The Villages Woodworkers Club be given Board of Directors authorization to:
· Limit toy production to no more than 6000 toys in a calendar year and production costs to $15,000, whichever comes first; and
· Limit distribution to organizations within the tri-county area of Marion, Lake and Sumter counties.
Furthermore, income raised by, and for, the Toy Department is insufficient to cover the costs of this function. The Toy Department is encouraged to continue their efforts to increase donations. The Board must recognize, and support the fact, that general Club money-making efforts, donations, initiation fees and dues will, in part, contribute to the toy-making initiative.
Department Reports –
Carvers – Bill McGinnis: Bill mentioned that a glue gun belonging to the Carvers has gone missing. If anyone mistakenly took this glue gun or put it back in a different place please let the carvers know.
Lumber – Steve Yovan/Kevin Vanscoy: Steve reported that there is a lot of wood in stock.
Certification, Monitor Training, and Mentoring –Dick Besler: Dick reminded everyone that even if you are exempt from Monitor duty you still need to do monitor training every two years. Monitor training is on the first and third Wed. of each month at 4pm. The film is about one hour. There have been incidents regarding the Delta Saw. There should be a monitor standing by whenever anyone is working on the Delta Saw. The guard should never be off this machine except for a very specific job. If you do not know how to replace the guard please get help. All of the videos are on the web site for anyone to review before they come in to do their monitor duty. Certification will be on November 5th and the 22nd. The mentoring program is going well. Dick explained the program to the new members and guests.
Office Administration - Anne Bell: The front office is very busy at this time of the year. New yearly waivers need to be signed, dues are being collected and monitor duty scheduled. The front desk is also collecting the money for the Christmas Party. The nominating committee has one more interview to conduct before putting together the slate of nominees for the election for 2016. They will bring the slate to the Board for approval in Oct.
Shop Administration – Dave Adamovich: This quarter Dave will be purchasing a new planer. It will be a digital read out machine. There will also be a new machine for raised panel doors. This will replace one of the router machines. Dave has made it known that he will be stepping down from his position as Maintenance Supervisor. He will start to train someone at the beginning of the year.
Toys– Conway Williams/Ron Gammon: Conway Williams provided a report showing that at the end of September they had constructed 5684 toys, up 2333 toys for all of last year.
Urn Project – Tom Miller: Tom explained the Urn Project to the guests. No new Urns are needed at this time.
Safety/Turners –John Herega: John reminded the members that the Turners meeting will be Tuesday Oct. 20th at the shop at 7pm. Ron Browning will be the guest turner. John is purchasing a new lathe from Australia that will take about 3 months to build. The Safety committee minutes will be posted on the web site. A CPR class was held on October 8th and there will be one scheduled for early next year. John asked that everyone please take the time to clean up after themselves. The shop now has some new surgical face masks that are not throwaway. They are for sale at the shop. The shop has purchased new monitor vests in different sizes, so please use the right size for you. The shop also provides face shields when turning so please use them. We do have a solution to clean the shield and we have replacements for the shields when needed.
Special Projects and Website – Hans Zassenhaus: We received 96 new projects from September 1st thru October 12th. 89 projects have been completed with 37 still open. The shop collected $2, 200 during this period which equated out to be about $10 an hour for the 182.5 hr. it took to complete. Hans explained the Special Project program to the guests. The shop has sold 1429 premade items, such as card holders, slant boards and wedges. The income from the premade items has been $9,600. Hans is to schedule two Sunday sessions so more can be made to sell at Colonial Days and for the shop inventory.
Break – 7:48 – 7:58
Show and tell:
Ed DeHart displayed his lamp and trays that he made from scrap wood.
Tom Miller showed off his platters.
John Scott had the train on display.
Any McTier had the new board bowl.
Bill McGinnis showed the statue he carved.
Skip banks brought in some bowls.
Steve Yovan had a platter to show off.
Ray Roberts displayed a vase he made.
Al Carson brought in a bird he carved.
Brady Placek had a cross to display.
Clyde Hamilton brought in a picture of a curio cabinet he made.
50/50 drawing $20, $20, $10, $9
Meeting adjourned at 8:36
Minutes respectfully submitted by Sandra Moraco, VWC Secretary