The Villages Woodworker’s Club
January
14, 2014
Laurel Manor
President Mike Borfitz called the meeting to
order at 7:02.
The Pledge of Allegiance was recited by attendants.
Mike welcomed all members and guests.
Five new members introduced themselves
Mike gave a “State of the
VWC” address:
“2013 was a very good year for the Woodshop – one
filled with successful events, positive changes and a little sadness –
basically, a microcosm of life. I’d like
to highlight some of these and thank those of you who helped make them happen.
Of course the most obvious
change to The Woodshop was the new parking lot – a project started in 2012,
under the leadership of Wayne Hendricks and finished in 2013. On June 12 of 2013 the Amenity Authority
Council awarded the parking lot project to a construction company to the tune
of $111,414.25. The final figure was
just a little above that because The Villages graciously picked up the bill for
our flagpole and flag. The project was
conducted during the summer months and while we arranged for auxiliary parking
and rented a golf cart for the transportation to and from the area, we rarely
needed to use them. On October 15, The
Villages conducted a ribbon cutting ceremony to highlight the parking lot
project and the VWC in general.
Some of the less obvious
events, but equally successful, included the following:
In January 2013, Jim
Spallone, Bob Rosen and Bill McAlister were elected to three year terms on the
Board of Directors. At the same time,
John Herega was elected vice president, Sandy Moraco, Secretary, Doug Parks, Treasurer and yours
truly, President.
Soon thereafter The Villages
Entertainment Department contacted us to participate in Colonial Days – a day
of highlighting clubs in The Villages
and celebrating the newest
square, Brownwood. After a little arm
twisting, our membership took the challenge – and we had what was probably the
best attended display of the event.
Turners graciously agreed to
don colonial apparel and demonstrated turning by making tops and honey dippers
on the spot. The Toy Department cut
puzzles on a scroll saw; and the carvers both hand-carved on site as well as
described their carvings to the numerous interested residents. There were many requests to buy what we were
displaying! It was a great success.
Along the same line, we
displayed our wares at an Open House at Laurel Manor on September 23. There were again many inquiries as to
membership in the Club and we had some press coverage at the event.
Back inside the Club,
changes were afoot also. With help from
a donated flat
screen, re-wiring and
mounting taken care of by our Maintenance guys and computer set-up by Ed Ott,
we were able to add Power Point shows in the lunch room area to our means of communication
as well as use the screen for educational purposes.
Within the building we
installed panic bars on the three main doors of the Shop – allowing easier
egress from the building and eliminating the need to prop doors open during the
day for re-entrance.
In an effort to zero in on
space utilization, we established the EOC (Executive Operations Committee) to
meet each month before the Membership meeting.
Its purpose is “To serve as a forum to communicate matters pertinent to
the administration and usage of the Shop and to identify opportunities to work
together within the management team.” In
simple language it is like a staff meeting where the heads of each area look to
work together to make us a smooth running organization. As a result of this effort, numerous storage
areas have been constructed within the Shop
and new storage for the toys has been erected in the Wood Shed. The committee continues to work to identify
other opportunities.
In line with the by-laws for
conducting outreach efforts such as the Toy program which increased their
output by 34, bringing the total to 5963 toys donated this year, the Eagle Cane
project, and Special Projects, the Club embraced the Urns for Indigent Veterans
project – building urns for veterans who are unable to cover the cost
themselves – a sadly, surprisingly large number. We are grateful to Tom Miller for the work he
did to bring this into organization.
On the financial side of
things, we were able to remain well in the black and thus allow us to keep the
dues at $55 a year while still being able to maintain and replace needed
equipment. Some of the extraordinary
efforts that helped in this area were the on-going display and sales of toys on
the Square which helped keep the Toy Department self-sufficient; the monies
realized from Special Projects which totals approximately $40,000; and the
Christmas 2013 Chance drawing which netted $3050 this year. Special thanks go to Dan Pallo and his toy
soldiers for the toy effort, all those who help with Special Projects and to
Bob Bell and Ed DeHart for the year-long effort to
cajole people into making items for the drawing. Lastly, we asked our members to help decorate
a Christmas tree that would represent the Woodshop to be auctioned off to
support the Special Olympics. I am
pleased to report that the 2013 tree brought $450 which was more than last
year. There was only one that came in
higher – at $500. Thank you to all who
contributed.
On the personnel side of
things, we had a changing of the guard in some areas. After years of work and dedication covering
approximately 10,000 special projects, John Justice and Roy Lincicome
stepped down from leading that effort and Bob Thompson picked up the
challenge. We also changed the schedule
to accept special projects only on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week. Thank you so much for taking on this
responsibility, Bob.
In the same manner, Paul
Green and Jack Tayge, who had tirelessly arranged the
certification training for all members, understandably stepped out of the
leadership role and Dick Besler stepped in.
Dick also took over leadership of monitor training which connects two
closely related topics. Thank you, Mr.
Besler.
And while all of the regular
efforts are underway in the Shop, we are also entertaining visitors who are
intrigued by our facility and our Club. During 2013, we had a minimum of 1669
visitors – those are the ones who signed the guest book!
On the sadder side of
things, we lost some members – two of the most visible being our good will ambassador
Joan Nichols and the leader of the carving group, Buddy Neenan.
Now we stand poised for
2014. We have 755 members who have paid
their dues for this year and 113 people who were members in 2013, but have not
yet paid for 2014 – which suggest that we might reach 800 this year. Of note we had 125 new members sign up in
2013 and have already had 10 more sign up in 2014. We are off to a good start and ready to elect
our officers and new Board members.
President – Mike Borfitz
Vice President – John Herega
Secretary – Sandy Moraco
Treasurer – Doug Parks
Board Members – Hans
Zassenhaus, Charlie Murray, and Clyde Hamilton
Thank you all for a great year. We look forward to another in 2014.”
Election of Officers: Bob Thompson presented the slate of officers to the
general membership. Bob then asked the
members if there where any names to be added to the
slate. No new names were brought
forward. Theaforementined
slate of officers where unanimously elected.
Bob called the elected members to come forward to take the oath of
office.
Certification - Dick Besler
There had been a certification class on the
9th of January. The next class will be on January 23rd. Scheduled classes in February will be on the
6th and 20th. All classes are full.
Dick asked that while the classes are being held, members working near
the machineson which demonstrations are being held
exercise patience and try to keep the
noise level down.
The monitors meeting will be every first and third Wednesday at 4pm. The class should only be about 1hr and
15minutes. Dick recommends that members consider doing their monitor training about 3 -4 weeks
before they are scheduled for duty.
Office Administration – Anne Bell
Anne reminded the members that January 31st is the last day
that you can pay your dues. If you have
not paid yet you cannot go into the shop to work. If your dues are not paid by January 31st
you will have to be recertified again.
Anne also suggested that all members look on the Woodshop web page to get
any new information, schedules and videos.
Shop Administration – Dave Adamovich
A video was presented giving an outline of the duties and schedule for
the maintenance of the shop equipment.
The general cleaning of the Shop the first two days of January did not
take place – not because the Shop did not need it, but because it is too much
of a mess. There are large pieces of
wood leaning on walls and in places they don’t belong, all over the shop. Rather than trash it all, the membership is
being given some time to recapture their pieces and take care of them before
they become free pickings. Mmbers should CHECK AROUND THE SHOP. If they recognize pieces they shoul label them and move them to an appropriate spot. That “appropriate spot “ maybe in their
garage. Ifthe
items are moved to an appropriate spot in the Shop, they must be labeled with a name and the date. Any items left behind will be confiscated. Items left longer than six months bast their labeled dates will require action to retain that
storage area. If no action is taken to
explain and receive agreement to leave the piece in that place with a new
expiration date, then one week after the date that has lapsed, the material
will be either returned to stock or placed in the free bin. In addition, storage bins not cleaned by the
middle of February will be cleaned and
reclaimed by the Shop.
Education – Bob Mathews
Bob thanked everyone who has helped with the class. Bob would like to see more instructors for
the current classes and for any new classes coming up. If anyone would like to share their knowledge
and experience please contact Bob.
Classes usually run from 4-6 or some are from 6-9.
Toys- Ron Gammon
Ron reported that the toy department made just under 6,000 toys in
2013. The toy department will be on the
square at Sumter Landing on March 13th.
Board Comments – Ron Gammon
Ron reminded the members that the Turners meeting is Tuesday January 21st
at the woodshop at 7pm. The demonstrator will be Rudy Lopez.
Ron also mentioned the Florida Symposium that will be here at the end of
the month. It is well worth going to see
the item on display.
Wood Carvers – Bill McGuiness
Bill encouraged the members to consider taking up carving. The carvers are more than willing to teach
their craft to anyone interested.
Web Site – Hans Zassenhaus
There have been some problems with the site and Hans has had to rebuild
it. Hans reminded the membership again
about making sure you contact the office if you have any changes to your
personal information. It is especially
critical that your email address be correct.
The class schedules and the monitor schedules are on the web site. Please take advantage of the video’s that are
posted.
Bob Bell reported that the Woodworker’s Christmas raffle returned $3,050.
Mike told the members that the Christmas tree that the woodshop donated
to the Special Olympics got the second highest bid at $450. That was even more than last year’s bid.
Ten Minute Break from 7:48 - 8:02
Show and tell:
Andy McTear had several wine bottle stoppers
made from acrylic.
Linda Samson showed a necklace she made from some wooden dice’s and how
she attached her husband’s military memorabilia.
Tom Miller made a vase from birch wood and did a process called burned.
Carson Wiedeman made a hole-inone trophy taught
to him by Dick Besler.
Rick Pixley showed three different bowls made from all Florida wood. Some
of the wood was pink ivory.
Bill McGuiness showed the Eagle Cane that the carvers do for the vets who
request them. The turners turn the staff
and the carvers carve the eagle head.
Bill also showed a small Santa Claus that is simple to make from bass
wood.
50/50
$20 / $19 / $16
Meeting adjourned at 8:20 pm
Minutes prepared and submitted by Sandra Moraco, VWC Secretary