Presidents Message - 2020

As we enter our fourth calendar year, the Waterloo Wellington Woodturners have seen great change this year. After getting off to a strong start in the fall of 2019, we have seen our Guild functions halted by the pandemic of COVID-19. Please know that we have not gone away altogether, we have only been forced to suspend our monthly meetings until it is safe for all to attend once again. The Executive is currently in discussions as to how to administer some sort of membership dues relief/defferal for this year while still maintaining sufficient funds to meet our minimum financial obligations. Stay tuned for the outcome of that.

As always I thank all the members of your Executive for their work this past year. It is a pleasure to welcome some new faces to the Executive. Grant McBride, Chris Kerrigan and Don Chowan have all stepped up and joined the ranks of our merry little band. I would also like to thank those who have left the executive; Johan Van Zyl and Doug Rohrbacher. These new faces bring new ideas and a fresh perspective.

Many new members have discovered us by finding us on the web, and Robert Holmes has taken over managing the website for us. Great job Robert! Dave Bell has us looked after on Facebook and social media. Christine Gilhuly has been a stalwart in keeping our Membership organized, and looking after ticket sales.

Thanks to all those who volunteer in various capacities in the Guild, whether selling raffle tickets, taking photos, or doing set-up and take-down. All that makes for a better Guild. Remember this is your Guild. You make it better by getting involved. Special thanks goes to Bob Jones for looking after our Photography at the Show'n'Tell table, and to Grant McBride for managing our Library.

The fall 2019 schedule offered many excellent instructional demonstrations at club meetings, all done by talented woodturners, both members and guests. Consider stepping forward and doing a demo yourself in the future. You may find it rewarding, and a lot more fun than you expected.

In November we made our first presentation of Bravery Beads Bowls to Judy Hurrell from the Womens' Auxiliary Volunteers at the Hospital for Sick Children. This represents the first of what I hope will be many contributions by Guild members. All the bowls were beautifully turned and finished, and have been distributed to children at Sick Kids. I hope those who took out kits for this year are all working hard on bowls for this year.

November saw us host another great guest woodturner in the person of Nick Agar. Nick is an accomplished woodturner, artist, author and teacher. The day before appearing at the Guild, he conducted a full day workshop at Lee Valley on his Viking Sunset Bowl. A number of Guild members participated. For the evening Guild demonstration, Nick packed a full evening in, offering a Viking Sunset Bowl, Platter decorating, and patina work all in a 4 hour period. The evening was full of instruction, tips and tricks, and great turning.

Each month we continue to see a variety of items on the show'n'tell table, each showcasing the incredible talents of our Guild. There is lots of talent here. Remember the show'n'tell table is for all members; novice and advanced. Keep bringing in your work. Everyone wants to see what you are working on. We learn from seeing each other's experiences.

In December of 2019 we lost one of our founding members in the person of Warren Law who sadly passed away from cancer. Warren always had such sage advice and encouragement for our Guild, and we will miss him greatly.

It has been a privilege to be your President again this year, and I look forward to getting back to some sense of normal sometime later this year.

Keep on turning!

Paul Newton

President

Waterloo-Wellington Woodturners Guild