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President’s Letter — July 2021
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I hope everyone enjoyed our in-person June meeting. You can’t beat a Sam’s cake and I have to thank my sweetie, John Mutrux for the Key Lime Pies – which were square, not round, in case you were wondering. Also, thanks to Dan Coleman for the great program on Bandsaws. I’m looking forward to our July program from Dan and Wayne Watson on buying used hand and power tools. I’m sure they’ll share their experiences, so we don’t make any buying mistakes. |
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| Speaking of mistakes – They say that the best way to learn is from your mistakes, especially as a woodworker. Well, I’m not too proud to share a recent “duh” moment that I learned from. I want to preface my story by saying, I’m a fairly smart person with a lot of common sense – so I say. Well, last year I made almost two dozen epoxy charcuterie trays for Christmas gifts. I jumped in with both feet after taking Don Iverson’s class that February. One of the final steps is sanding, sanding, and more sanding with my orbital sander. I have a small dust collection system using the Dust Deputy Cyclone Separator – which is a great starter system. I started having problems with the top collapsing in on itself (probably because I have it hooked up to an oversized shop vac). After a few YouTube videos I saw I needed to reinforce the top – which I did with a 1/2” piece of plywood. Fast forward to this summer when I was working on my two vanities that Don Turner helped me build (actually he did well over half the work I think). I was sanding, sanding, and sanding the pieces then realized I wasn’t getting a lot of suction. Well, after taking everything apart, I realized all the dust was by-passing the Dust Deputy and going straight to the shop vac and clogging up the filter…definitely not right. One second after removing the top of the Dust Deputy I realized I hadn’t cut a hole in the plywood – so the dust was going directly to the shop vac – duh! Naturally, after I cut a hole in the wood top it started working perfectly. Problem solved – lesson learned. |
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| I’m willing to bet that every Guild member, with a week of woodworking under their belt sander, has a similar story and I hope aren’t too proud to share. I say that because, not only can we learn from our own mistakes, but we can also learn from other’s – if they don’t mind sharing. So, Members, I’d love to hear your lesson learned story at a meeting or as a short article for the newsletter.
See you soon, |
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Vickie
a.k.a. – 1abWdWrkr |
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As promised, Cake, Cookies, and Ice Cream were served at our first In-Person meeting in over a year. |
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Face Mask Protocol
The SLWG leadership requests that in-person attendees at the In-Person Meeting comply with the CDC guidelines for masking which recommends that non-vaccinated persons wear masks and for vaccinated persons masks are optional. |
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THIS MONTH’S PROGRAM
(In-Person and Online Presentation)
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Buying Used Tools
(Hand and Power)
Wayne Watson
and
Dan Coleman
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Our resident machinery expert, Dan Coleman, gave a presentation on
Band Saws
types, sizes, cost, advantages, and set up
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| See the June SLWG Meeting on the SLWG Website HERE. General meeting and S&T are in the first hour and the Band Saw presentation starts in the second hour. |
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MEMBER FORUM
Just a short reminder that the FORUM on the SLWG Website (Click HERE) is the perfect place to ask a question about woodworking, share interesting finds, advertise when you have lumber or a tool that you would like to buy/sell/trade or have a helpful hint to share. Make sure you have opted in to receive posts.
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| Guild President Vickie Berry presented Wayne Humphrey a gift from the Guild for his outstanding service as President for the last two years. |
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HELP WANTED:
Willing bodies needed to paint the exterior of our new wooden storage shed at Faust Park. Not a painter? – just think of it as putting the finish on your biggest wood project ever….
WHEN: Friday, July 23 8:00 am – 3:00 pm
WHAT YOU SHOULD BRING:
- 2” – 3” paint brush
- 9” Roller frame (roller covers provided)
- Paint tray (with plastic insert for easy clean up)
- Extension pole for roller (if you have one)
- Your Lunch (water provided)
Everything else will be provided for your painting pleasure…
If interested contact Vickie Berry at vb8212@gmail.com |
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Here is our technical team that enables us to livestream our meetings. A big THANK YOU to David Zemon, Dan Sudkamp, and Hal Donovan for all of their work to make this happen!!! |
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| Editor’s Note:
The St. Louis Woodworkers Guild encourages its Members to share their projects at the in-person Guild meetings. If you can’t make it to the meeting, please send items you would like to showcase in future SLWG Newsletters to grady.vaughan@gmail.com.
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Alan Brown brought in a handy thumb reader assist for folks with difficulty holding books open while reading. He also had several car cutouts with depressions for a marble game. |
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Alan also sent in photos of a pen that he made with his grandson.
Olympia Elite II with turquoise stabilized Elder wood
Hand made pen holder as well
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| Joe Turner showed his latest puzzle boxes at this month’s meeting. AWESOME!! |
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Joe showed his Reptile Puzzle Boxes at the June meeting. He said it took about 450 hours to produce the lot and each puzzle has 84 parts prior to gluing or pressing. This number is reduced to 39 parts prior to final assembly.
Joe’s puzzle received one of 4 Jury Honorable Mentions out of a field of 47 at the 2020 International Puzzle Party Design Competition. |
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Free Me 8 – The Reptile Puzzle Box |
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150 Boxes ready to send off to collectors, families, and friends. 100 were made from cherry and 50 were walnut & maple. |
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Brian Ellison showed pens that he made. A unique feature of these pens is their material source: guitar picks! |
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Bill Schuchat showed his progress on the violin that he has been making over the last few months. It was good to see it in person. |
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Bob Kastigar showed us his Bang-a-Ball toy that he saw and reverse-engineered it to make his own pattern. |
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John Bronson brought in a Charcuterie Board that he recently made. |
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Jeff Nasser brought in a couple of pepper mills that he made from leftover wood. Each mill is made of 8 pieces of wood, including poplar, walnut, cherry, maple, … |
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| Charles Schrock showed a small intricately designed bowl that he turned that has 6 layers with 18 pieces per layer. |
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| Linda Turner made this pull toy. It is one of the toys being made for the Guild Christmas Toy Program. See program description below. |
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We are looking for videos of interest to our Guild Members. Please send us links to your favorites and we will publish them here. These can be videos that you upload yourself to our website or see on another site. |
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| Here is a link to a site that lists safety recall notices for woodworking tools. LINK |
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COMMUNITY
St. Louis Woodworkers Guild contributions to the local community
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The Christmas Toy Program is alive and well…I’m meeting some new woodworking elves at the shop and look forward to meeting even more. Friday afternoons seem to be our meeting day and we’re already seeing some great progress. |
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Dan Lender scored some free 2” x 6”’s that yielded a few dozen Pull Toys and 1” x 6”’s that turned into Threading Toys using designs from Linda Turner.
We are also repurposing some lap boxes by painting the lids with chalk paint and filling them with activity items for toddlers and budding artists. |
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Wayne Humphrey came up with a prototype toy box with wooden wheels that are from repurposed book boxes.
If you’re interested in joining the elves on Fridays from Noon to 4, watch for a message from Wayne Humphrey or contact him directly at wehumphrey@hotmail.com |
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Once more the Toy Table is set up at the Guild Meeting to receive completed toys and give out toy parts to toy builders. Rich Weitzman is the Toy Committee Chair and is available to help toy builders with their questions. |
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Toy Committee Update
Toys can be dropped of at the July meeting and toy parts can be picked up.
Toy donations are still low.
We ask that you make for toys for the Toys-for-Tots program.
Rich Weitzman
Toy Committee Chair
314-920-7867
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Collected
July — 291
YTD — 2,998
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Delivered
July — 81
YTD — 1,905
Since 1994 — 77,117
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2021 Toy Program Major Contributors
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Over 700 Club
Wayne Humphrey – 721
Bill Meuth – 710
Over 500 Club
Linda Turner – 594
Rich Sanders – 531
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Over 100 Club
Hal Donovan – 109
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2021 Target and Challenge
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| Target for Delivered Items: 6,000 |
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| 10% Member Participation Target |
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Toy Pattern Library is Growing
Keep checking the website for new patterns throughout the year as well as the schedule for donating seasonal items. We’ll continue to add new and interesting patterns for all levels of woodcrafters so check back often.
Find patterns at: https://slwg.org/community-involvement/toy-program/ |
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Organizations that we currently donate toys to include: |
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Rich Weitzman, Chair
Paul Bailey
Vickie Berry
Hal Donovan
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Dan Lender
Steve Mettes
Bill Schuchat
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| Please contact us with comments, suggestions or if you need to arrange pickup or delivery of toys. Individual contact info can be found on the Members Only section of the SLWG website. |
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Desks for Kids Program
On June 2, 2021 thirty desks were delivered to LifeWiseStL. A community organization in St. Louis city near St. Raymond’s. |
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| We are scheduling two Desks for Kids’ workdays at the shop. Tuesday, July 20, and Tuesday, July 27 – from 9:00 – Noon. Members who are interested in participating should register under Events, Other Events Category, Group Builds on the http://slwg.org website or CLICK HERE. |
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Bring Me A Book Team News
The Bring Me a Book St. Louis program has been recently inundated with a large donation of books which has challenged their distribution system. They have requested that SLWG put a hold on the Book Box Program until they sort through how they plan to move forward with their distribution system.
Stay tuned for upcoming announcements.
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Tom Tierney: (314) 412-1817
Jack McKay: (314) 435-2232
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Charles Schrock: (314) 822-3709
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Check out the Events Calendar on the SLWG website HERE. |
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Woodworking Classes
Held at Faust Park Workshop |
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Woodworking Classes
Upcoming Classes
See the Schedule on the SLWG Website HERE.
Next few months:
Date Teacher Subject
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| 5-Aug |
Wayne Watson |
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Safety Class |
| 14-Aug |
Jay Nofsinger |
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Shorty Band Saw Class |
| 21-Aug |
Wayne Humphrey |
Bandsawn Boxes |
| 22-Aug |
Wayne Watson |
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Fundamental of Woodworking 2021 |
| 28-Aug |
Mike Sistek |
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Leigh Jigs |
| 29-Aug |
Wayne Watson |
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Mortise and Tenon |
| 2-Sep |
Wayne Watson |
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Safety Class |
| 4-Sep |
nothing scheduled |
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| 5-Sep |
Wayne Watson |
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Thru dovetails |
| 2-Oct |
Don Snyder |
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Inlay |
| 3-Oct |
Wayne Watson |
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Half blind dovetails |
| 7-Oct |
Wayne Watson |
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Safety Class |
| 30-Oct |
Bill Schuchat |
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Adirondak Chair (2 days) |
| 31-Oct |
Bill Schuchat |
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Adirondak Chair (2 days) |
| 4-Nov |
Wayne Watson |
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Safety Class |
| 6-Nov |
Mike Sistek |
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Squaring Up a Board by Hand |
| 7-Nov |
Wayne Watson |
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Splined miter joints |
| 2-Dec |
Wayne Watson |
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Safety Class |
| 4-Dec |
Brad Bernhard |
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Bowl Turning class |
| 5-Dec |
Wayne Watson |
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Biscuit Joinery |
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Fundamentals of Woodworking Class
Beginning in August 2021
Learning the Essential Skills of Good Craftsmanship
Are you new to woodworking? Wondered how to best get started? What tools to buy and when? If you answered yes to these questions, the Saint Louis Woodworkers Guild can provide the answers. A next Fundamentals of Woodworking class is starting in August. Tailored for new woodworkers, the class will meet once a month for ten to eleven months. The class will cover the essentials needed to start you on your woodworking journey. For example, in lesson one you will learn about wood, its properties, how to select it and how to buy it. Each following lesson will build on the previous class throughout the course.
Succeeding lessons will introduce you to hand tools and their proper use. Woodworking machinery and the safe use of both stationary and portable power tools. How to plan a project and purchase the materials required, through the finishing process will be covered in the course. Joinery techniques, from mortise and tenons to hand cut dovetails will be taught.
Throughout the course, short lessons will be followed by practical “hands-on” exercises that will build your skills and provide the knowledge required to become an accomplished and safe woodworker. The course will include the construction of two projects which will challenge you and put your new knowledge into play.
Some “homework” will be required between sessions. While not required, it is highly recommended, that class members attend the Guild’s Safety Class so that they may utilize the Faust Park shop between classes during “open shop” dates.
The class size will be limited so do not put off signing up! Cost for the full class is $300.00. Students will be required to acquire a basic set of tools which will be detailed in the first class. The cost of materials is not included in the class fee.
The first class is scheduled for Sunday August 22nd at U-Pick Hardwoods. We will not meet in September but will resume in October in the Guild’s shop and will continue to meet on the fourth Sunday of each month for the duration of the class.
You may enroll and pay on the website. For questions contact Wayne Watson at workswood@earthlink.net or 314-541-3047
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Faust Park Workshop Information
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- To participate in the Workshop Safety Class or use the shop, you must have paid the current year Guild dues and have your current membership card with appropriate marking.
- To use the Guild Workshop during open hours, you must have passed a Workshop Safety Class.
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August Shop Hours
August 3 & 4 10 am – 2 pm
August 7 & 8 9 am – 5 pm
August 10 & 11 10 am – 2 pm
August 14 & 15 9 am – 5 pm
August 21 9 am – 5 pm
Safety Class attendees must register online and bring their current Guild membership card.
Directions to the shop on the SLWG website HERE.
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Next Shop Safety Class
When:
Thursday, August 5, 6:30 pm
Where:
Faust Park Workshop
Duration:
Plan for 3 Hours
Cost:
$20 for Current Members
Visit the SLWG website for Safety Class Signup HERE. |
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The Shop is OPEN!
The Faust Park Shop Rules
Keeping in line with the latest CDC guidance the following rules are being relaxed if you are Fully Vaccinated for the Covid 19 Virus.
Effective as of May 15th 2021, fully vaccinated Members will no longer be required to wear face masks while in the shop.
Safety glasses will continue to be required as in the past.
Maximum occupancy limits are also being lifted.
If you are not fully vaccinated please be advised that vaccinated individuals will be present within the woodshop without facemasks.
Wayne Watson
Shop Manager
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Join or Renew your Guild
Membership Today!
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Annual Dues Renewals
Remember that letting your membership lapse will result in having to retake the Safety Class ($20) prior to using the Open Shop at Faust Park.
Annual membership renewal is available online (click on button below) with PayPal or any major credit card, or mail a check for the appropriate amount with member’s name in the memo line to
St. Louis Woodworkers Guild
P.O. Box 411766
St. Louis, MO 63141-9998
Current membership status is required for use of the Faust Park Shop.
Annual Membership Dues:
Basic Membership $40
Full Shop Membership $75
A Basic Membership entitles the member to four (4) uses of the Guild Shop during the membership year.
A Shop Membership entitles the member to unlimited use of the shop during open shop hours.
Member benefits also include:
> Discounts at Guild sponsors
> Access to Project Workshops
> Access to a local community of woodworkers
> Access to the secure portion of the website
See the SLWG Website for signing up! |
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WELCOME TO NEW MEMBERS
Roger Besancenez
Galen Bird
Charles Dombek
Mark Hatton
Ben Kampelman
Douglas McLean
Sandy Pinson
Giovanni Speziali
Pedro Veronezi |
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If you are a current or retired Boeing employee you can now contribute to the St. Louis Woodworker’s guild through the Boeing Gift Match program. The guild is now an approved charitable organization with the Boeing program. As an employee participant, your donation of $25.00 USD or more or the equivalent volunteer hours of 25 hours or more will be matched 1:1 by Boeing. The maximum individual contribution is $6,000.00 or 6,000 volunteer hours. Your contribution is tax deductible as long as you follow three simple steps:
Step 1: Eligible Boeing employees or retirees first make a contribution directly to the guild
Step 2: After making your donation go to Total Access and click on My Community Giving – GIVE – Gift Match on the Boeing Gift Match page.
Step 3: Register your donation whether it’s monetary or volunteer hours and select The St. Louis Woodworker’s Guild and enter the total amount and the date of the contribution.
It’s that easy, you get a great tax break and it benefits the guild directly. If you have any questions, please email Vickie Berry at president@slwg.org and if I don’t know the answer, I will try to find it for you. |
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The St. Louis Woodworker’s Guild is now listed with Amazon Smile.
AmazonSmile is a simple and automatic way for you to support your favorite woodworker’s guild every time you shop at no cost to you. When you shop at smile.amazon.com, you’ll find the exact same low prices, vast selection and convenient shopping experience as Amazon.com, with the added bonus that Amazon will donate a portion of the purchase price to the St. Louis Woodworker’s Guild.
Simply go to smile.amazon.com and select the St. Louis Woodworker’s Guild as your organization that you want to receive donations from your eligible purchases. The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases. You don’t make the donation, Amazon Smile does. It truly is at no cost to you. Just make sure you go to smile.amazon.com instead of amazon.com. If you have any questions on how the program works, just send an email to Vickie Berry at president@slwg.org . |
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SLWG Officers, Board Members and Committee Leaders |
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President:
Vickie Berry
Vice President:
Bill Schuchat |
Secretary:
Adam Connors
Treasurer:
Tom Tierney |
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Directors:
Dan Sudkamp (exp. 2022)
Don Turner (exp. 2023)
Jay Noffsinger (exp. 2024)
Dan Lender (exp. 2025)
Immediate Past President:
Wayne Humphrey
Marketing & Membership Chair:
David Schindler
Membership Coordinator:
David Schindler
Woodworking Show Coordinator:
Open
Book Box Committee Chair:
Tom Tierney
Outreach Coordinator:
Open
Legal Counsel:
Bill Hobson |
Newsletter Editor:
Grady Vaughan
Librarian:
Al Carlson
Toy Committee Chair:
Rich Weitzman
Shop Manager:
Wayne Watson
Assistant Shop Manager:
Dave Gronefeld
Classes and Workshops Coordinator:
Bill Schuchat
Web Master:
David Zemon
Media Coordinator:
Brian Ellis |
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Our Sponsors
The St. Louis Woodworkers Guild relies heavily on sponsorship to execute on our mission statement of education, community service, and local development. Please support our sponsors.
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(In-store only)
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Photo Credits
Old Tool Shop — Photo by Nico Smit on Unsplash |
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