The Villages Woodworkers Club

May 12, 2015

Laurel Manor

 Meeting called to order by President Mike Borfitz.

The Pledge of Allegiance was said and a moment of silence was observed by all members. Richard Knie has passed away and he knew how much we missed him right up to the end.  John Justice penned a most beautiful message for our last card to Richard. 

Members and Visitor Tally:

New members  introduced themselves. Our membership now stands at 841, which is up by 9 since last month.

Insurance:

We continue to inventory our equipment and tools as we work to make sure our insurance provides the right coverage.  The video, created by Wayne Mederios,  of what is in the shop was playing as you arrived.  It is a walk-through to see what we have in the shop.  It will be on the website soon.

Vending Machine:

The new vending machine has been installed.  The machine is wireless and the people who own the machine know what is purchased and when.  The biggest seller to date is Chocolate Chip Cookies.  In the Fall we may have it programmed so that every 20^th purchase is free.

Club History:

Recently the Board of Directors entertained a suggestion to create a “hall of fame” for the club.  After some discussion, we came away with what we believe is an even better proposal – that of creating a history of our club – who we are, how we got started, references to all who worked so hard to make it happen and how far we’ve come.  Bernie Harkins, John Justice, Murry Bishop, and Clyde Hamilton are spearheading this effort.  They would welcome any anecdote that you might want to make sure is included.  They will pull together pictures and put a script together which will be videotaped and put on our web site.  Also, we encourage those of you were here from our inception to please feel free to contact Bernie, John, Murry or Clyde.   

Officers for 2016:

For the past three years Mike Borfitz has been our president, John Herega the vice president, and Sandy Morraco the secretary.  They feel that the Club deserves new blood in leadership positions.  The current office holders will open their experience base to the successors and try to make the transition smooth.  The sooner Mike and John know who is interested in those positions, the sooner training can be started.  Anyone who has interest in the club leadership should contact Anne Bell.

Department reports:

Lumber:  Steve Yovan/Kevin Vanscoy

While Steve Yovan is entertaining guests, Kevin Vanscoy will be keeping the Lumber department in order.

IT Department: Ray Roberts

Ray is on vacation.  Paul Porter reported that a baseline system has been set for the shop.  The IT committee will have a say in recommending what should be included, without going overboard, in our computer systems to the Board of Directors

Certification, Monitor training, Mentor Program: Dick Besler

Certification is caught up with only 1 or 2 scheduled for May 21.  The white board has notices for dates for certification.  June 4 and June 25 are the next dates.

Monitor training had at least 15 or 20 members in the last class.  Updated items  have been included.

Mentor lists are given out at each certification class.  Copies can be put at the front desk.

Carvers:  Bill McGinnis

Bill and other carvers will be coaching members who might be interested in carving during the summer.  Starting June 1, anyone who wants to try carving can come in between 9am and 11am on Tuesday and Wednesday of each week for some coaching.

Front Office:  Anne Bell

Alice Besler has input all the mentors into the database, therefore, anyone who needs a list of mentors can come to the desk and ask for one.

Education: Bob Matthews

Bob Matthews is away. Debbie Larouere and Tom Ribaudo have completed  a knife block class with 6 students in each class. 

John Herega will be setting up some summer classes for Lathe introduction and Basic Spindle Turning.

Summer classes will be  announced on the web site.

Sign up for Fall classes will probably be in August, with classes starting in September.

Shop Administration: Dave Adamovich

The table saw is up and running with a cheap temporary motor, in the hopes of getting a good replacement.  Dave asked that we not cut heavy material on it at this time.  The original motor will then be taken out and rebuilt.

Toys: Conway Williams/Ron Gammon

Mike said that the Toy department produced 705 toys in April, bringing the year’s total to 2699.  This is 1529 ahead of this time last year!  Due to Conway’s perseverance we have established a partnership with Lowes that will allow us to purchase toy lumber at a significantly reduced cost.  Conway has worked for about 6 months to accomplish this.  Most recently Lowes gave us 608 linear feet of premium pine, representing a value of $900.

Toys will be on display for donation at Sumter Landing on May 14.  The new toy catalog will also be on the web site.

Safety/Turners/Apparel: John Herega

Turners – May 19 is the last meeting until September.  Larnie will demo a lidded bowl with a finial top in the style of Cindy Drozda.  John is working on turner supply inventory, then replacement of tools as needed. 

Safety – The safety committee is making changes to the Monitor Training and to the Monitor checklist regarding safety procedures.  Monitors should note any incidents they see in the shop on the monitor check list. 

Biological Spills – Alice Besler has put procedures together and we have clean up kits to use if an incident occurs.  The kits are near the door in the Special Projects area, by the ladder, and by the paint room.  To clean up, use sawdust on the spill, then sweep it up, put disinfectant on the floor.  Put supplies in a plastic bag and throw in the dumpster. 

Video Presentation:

An updated Tool Crib Procedures video was shown.

Special Projects/Web Site: Hans Zassenhaus

Special Projects - There is a backlog of about 90 projects.  Standard items such as card holders and slant boards are in demand and run out as soon as they are made.  Several members from the audience said they would be interested in helping to make these items in the evenings.  Hans will set up the shop to do this sometime this summer so volunteers can help make these items. 

Anyone interested in making a special project can look in the green book, find a project, put your name on the bottom of the form and give it to the person  at the front desk.    When the project is completed put a piece of purple masking tape on it and let the front desk, find the project you completed in the yellow book, write down the hours you worked on the project and the estimated cost and give it to the person at the front desk.  The desk person will call the customers.  Hans is in the shop on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 10:30am – 2:00 pm. 

Web site - The web site will be up a week from today (May 19).  The necessary move to a new internet service provider, Microsoft, meant a rewrite of the entire site, so not all pieces will be ready immediately.  Monitor Duty and the 5-6 most important films will be ready.  There will be more security in that you will not be able to retrieve your password but will still be able to change it.  There is a FAQ page and a Feedback page. 

Hans is working on problems with sending out emails to the membership.

Mike mentioned that a newspaper reporter would be at the shop on Friday, May 15.  Anyone who is interested was invited to stop by.

Break 7:55 – 8:05

Show and tell:

Ron Gammon’s neighbor and son own and operate a high end metal shop and he got involved with our turners.  His son made the tools to make the metal top and bottoms that Ron displayed.  He will be back in the fall.  If anyone is interested in these tools see Ron Gammon.

50/50:

$15/$12/$11

Meeting adjourned at 8:30.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Anne Bell, Office Manager