Rochester Woodcarvers
November - December 2004 Newsletter
Meetings: 9am - 11am on the 3rd Saturday of each month (Sept - April)
Redeemer Lutheran Church, 9th Street and 7th Avenue SE, Rochester, MN

Wow, what great meetings we’ve had lately.

Harvey Refsal was a great hit and the Christmas party was a lot of fun.

Many thanks to Nancy Borson for coming up with the games and the white elephant gift exchange.

Dennis Tooley has volunteered to coordinate the festival of trees for next year.  Now we just need a president, vice president, two board members, janitor, etc, etc.

Seriously, Wayne Hendrickson, Randy Kinnick, and myself are the search committee for finding candidates.  We are past the point of this being a concern and it’s rapidly becoming a minor crisis.  Don’t let it become a major crisis.  Our club is too valuable to let slide by with complacency from the members.

Volunteer!! We need you!

Plans for the annual woodcarving show are coming along well.  Tom Severson and I will have some flyers ready at the Jan meeting and we’ll start signup sheets for tables and help.

I occasionally get calls from people who want carvings done. (Always at the last minute of course).  As an example, I got calls right before Christmas from people who wanted walking canes and carved signs.  I sent them to the appropriate people, but it would be handy to have a list of club members who do commission work and what their specialties are.   If you want to be on such a list, get me your contact information and I’ll try to convince Tom Severson to put it on the website.

Happy Carving

Trent

2004 – 2005 Meeting Dates and Program Topics:

• September 18 - Acanthus Carving by Keith Anderson
• October 16 - Fan Carved Birds and How to Handle the Knife by Jim Ayers
• November 20 - Harley Refsal - will speak on the history of the Swedish Dala Horse & will also bring some of his examples of the various 100 dala type horses he sent out to various people across the country & other countries to decorate & they were to return them to him when they had done so.   He will also bring copies of his new revised carving book that just came out this month & also his flat plane video that came out this year.
• December 18 - Christmas Party
• January 22 (postponed from January 15) - Customs and Carvings for a German Christmas by Tom Pike
• February 19 - The Art of Knifemaking by Terry Knipschield
• March 19 - Open
• April 16 - Auction and Interest Stations
• May 21 - Spring Picnic - Quarry Hill Park, 9th St and 19th Ave NE (Ninth Street NE entrance), 11:00am to 1:00pm, Potluck lunch at noon

There were about 95-100 in attendance.  Wayne Hendrickson subbed as president for Trent Busch. There were five new people at the meeting. They came from Rochester (including Norm Morrison who just moved to Rochester from Henderson, NC), Zumbrota, and Red Wing.

Wayne noted the recent death of club member Gary Hodnefield.

Chuck Stupca gave the treasurer's report and reminded members to pay dues if haven't done so.

Tom Severson shared examples of posters he has designed for advertising for the spring woodcarving show.

Tom Pike requested that if members change e-mail address, they remember to contact him or Chuck or Bev Stupca.  Spare newsletters were available on front table.  We now only mail out 45 copies. An e-mail reminder had been sent out for the meeting, which about 1/3 of the club got; others were reminded to give their e-mail addresses to Tom Pike if they haven't already done so.

Ron Bymers was the Reserve Grand Champion winner at the Olmsted County Fair of a relief carving of birds.

Library report:    Two new books:  'Carving a Human Figure' and 'Architectural Carving'. 

Books checked out today will come back in January because of the Christmas party in December.

Festival of Trees Update

Dennis Tooley gave a report on the Festival of Trees.  He estimated that about 106 ornaments had been carved for the tree.  The theme was  "Touched by an Angel".   Laverne Schettl carved an angel for the top, and Tom Pike made the base with six angels surrounding the base of the tree.  The tree will be set up Monday morning (Nov. 22). There are over 100 trees this year.  We've participated for 20 years or so.  Dennis thanked the Festival of Trees committee which was made up by Laverne Schettl, Chris Christianson, Vonnie Weeldreyer, Laurie Reed, Dolores Lawman, Karen Reilly, and Dennis.

The National Festival of Trees organization will hold a meeting in Rochester in February.  Members should talk to Trent if want to donate a carving for this event. Bob Nowicki noted that he has made a carving to donate.  Bob said that the carvings could be an ornament or a table piece, and that they will be put up for auction.  Bob offered to contact the National committee chairperson about the club's interest in making a commitment to this event.

Volunteers for demonstrations at the Rochester Festival of Trees for Wednesday are Laverne Schettl, Tom Pike, and Lou Vangalis. More would be welcome.

Show and Tell – November 20, 2004

Tom Pike: Lichterengel & Lichterbergmann; Santa on skis and Festival of Trees auction: Santa & sleigh
Wayne Hendrickson: Two little Green Bay Packer football players
Mark Hagen: Two canoe paddles made of basswood and cedar
Chris Christianson: Chip-carved tree ornaments
Steve Murray: Festival of Trees auction: a plate relief entitled "Me and My Daddy"
Cheryl Jones: Santa and a sweet-potato Elf
Janet Denn: Tall basswood slab Santa
Dave Bedney: Two Canadian geese
Ione Chase: Badger and a duck

Program, November 20, 2004 - Dala Horse Carving with Harley Refsal

Harley Refsal from Decorah, Iowa was our program presenter.  Harley's presentation was about the history of the famous Dala horse. It was complete with personal stories, slides, and a display of delightfully painted Dala horses from his personal collection, as well as an informative and well-researched history of this much-enjoyed carving.  Harley carved a number of his Dala horse design and sent them to his friends for their personal painting and touches such as the “Dolly Horse”.  Harley also had copies of his new book:  “Art & Technique of Scandinavian Style Woodcarving” and his accompanying video.  His presentation was attended by what may be the largest crowd the club has ever had.

Treasury Report – Bev Stupca
Balance: $2700
Dues will be due in March

Program, December 18, 2004:  Christmas Party

Christmas Treats & Eats
After a rousing game of Christmas Figure Grouping with a lot of Ho,Ho,Ho’s and Ba-humbugs we sat down to a table full of treats furnished by the club members

Show and Tell – December 18, 2004

Tom Pike: Books on Anri and Inspirational Relief Carving (From Rochester Public Library)
Bob Nowicki: Article in Rochester Magazine
Bev Stupca: Nativity Wreath
Ione Chase: Set of Fun Snakes
Don Carlson: Crosses
Nancy Borson: Belongers for water bottles
Randy Kinnick: Relief Carved Tray
Ron Bymers: Woman Doing Jig and Man with Violin; Man with Pipe; 2 Winking Santas (Praying Santa’s); Santa with Bag; Santa with Snowman
Kathy Ward: Crate of Lion Canned Veggies & Lion
Tom Severson: Picture Plate
Wayne Hendrickson: Cheddar Head Man; Angry Woman
Dennis Tooley: 77 Cobra II Relief Carving
Bob Nowicki: Barefoot Santa (Rochester’s 150 Years Edition)
Tom Pike: Kurrende Singers with Tree and Church
Nick Poleschuck: Show Pictures

Past RWC President Recognition:  Trent presented our past President, Paul Glowacki with the Past President Plaque for Paul’s leadership in 2001-2002.

Book Review:  The Public Library has a copy of “Inspirational Relief Carving” by William Judt (736.4/J929I) Fox Chapel Publishing Co.  A very well done book on deep relief carving with excellent photos, patterns, and tips on design, wood preparation, carving, and finishing.

Web Site of the Month:  Carved Cookie & Butter Molds   http://www.cookiemold.com/