To quote the opening line from a Tale of Two Cities, it was the best of times, and it was the worst of times. 2009 is a year that I will be glad to put behind me on a personal level, but it was a banner year for our beloved OCWA. Our Christmas toy program produced five thousand toys for the less fortunate children of Orange County. The Freedom Pen Project also produced five thousand hand turned wooden pens for our service personnel deployed overseas. It was a new record for both programs. I believe Mr. Bill Rogers, Ms Ruthe Ingram, and their respective committees de-serve all of the accolades we could possibly shower on them for all of their hard work in making all of this possible. We had a great show this year at the Orange County Fair. It was our Tenth annual Fine Art Woodworking Show, and it was wonderful thanks in no small part to Mr. Ed Straub, and his fine committee of nere-do-well’s, and rapscallions,

who with hammer, and claw, built the OCWA woodworking booth in our new digs in building 15. The show was a big hit, and if they don’t sell the fairgrounds, we may be back to do it again next year.

Is that all there is? Well, no! We’re going to cap it all off with a bang up Christmas Party the likes of which have never been seen before with the naked eye. Well, per-haps that is a little overstated, but it should be fun. There will be a gift exchange, which shouldn’t exceed the twenty five dollar range. We will have a bunch of great door prizes, and best of all, FOOD. Our dinner will be sponsored by our good friend Mr. Joe Lomax of Austin Hardwoods in Santa Ana, so we would like to give him a big OCWA thank you. We may even be visited by a northern sojourner with the last name of Kringle to give us a hand with the exchange gifts, so come and join us for some holiday fun.

Election Results

After a bitterly fought campaign in which no one was spared any mud slung in their direction, the results are in from all precincts, and, and, and, I am having trouble saying it, but you have a new, no it can’t be true, yes it’s true, you have a new President of the OCWA along with a new Vice President. Our new President is none other than Mr. Craig Chambers a long time member, and die hard Dodger fan. Our new Vice President is Drew Schel-lenbarger, tool collector extraordinaire. The offices of Treasurer, and Secre-tary will once again be filled by Mr. Ralph Crowther, and Mr. Ed Straub respec-tively. I would wish them all good luck, but I don’t want to jinx them.

It’s been a good run. I have had a good long run as your President, and I want to thank all of you

from the bottom of my heart for all the support you’ve shown me through the years. I have made a lot of friends along the way, and a few enemies as well, but that goes with the territory. What I have tried to do, however, is keep our Association focused on its mission, which is to promote woodworking safety, education, and craftsmanship. We have also promoted good citizenship through our altruistic efforts to give back to the community with such things as the Christmas Toy and Freedom Pen Programs. It has been a team effort, and if it wasn’t for the gracious, and generous mem-bership of the OCWA none of it would be possible, so here’s to you, a final doff of my chapeaux.

Sawdust & Sawdust & Sawdust & Shavings Shavings Shavings Volume 26 Issue 12 December 2009

President’s Message James Santhon

IN THIS ISSUE

President’s Message 1

Woodworker’s Sawdust 2

Woodturner Shavings 3

Show and Tell 4

Toy Program 5

Freedom Pens 6

Woodworking Show 8

Meeting Dates 10

I must say it was a very exciting and entertaining two years being Vice President of the club. I wish to thank all our members for their support and kind wishes. Most of the thanks should go to the very wonderful speakers we had over these years. I would like to personally thank all of them.

Well by now you know who the “Mystery Turner” was . Thank you to our President, James Santhon for doing such a great demo on the 5th .You were always willing to help whenever one of our speakers could not make an appear-ance. Thank you for all the years you have given to making our organiza-tion.

Our new vice president will be Drew Schellbarger who will be able to bring to you all his years of experience in the woodworking field. Hope to see all of you at the Christmas Party!

Woodworker Sawdust Chester Maharaj

Board of Directors

President James Santhon (949) 481-2821

Treasurer Ralph Crowther (949) 588-2922

Vice President Chester Maharaj (949) 422-4522

Secretary Ed Straub (714) 536-4568

Woodturners President Victor Cohn (562) 252-2580

Public Affairs Chairman/Newsletter Don Scott (714) 533-7883

Director at Large Bill Rogers 714) 637-2912

2nd Director at Large Ralph Alder (714) 544-3328

Committees

Badges Lew Musgrave (714) 532-4778

Toy Program Bill Rogers 714) 637-2912

Library Ollie Vaughan (949) 278-5939

Nominations & Elections Bill Rogers (714) 637-2912

Refreshments Pam Lane (714) 774-4497

Welcome /Membership Art Dunbar (949) 830-3569

Mentor Chairman David Wade (714) 771-3248

Resources George Plummer (714) 540-4527

OC Fair Ed Straub (714) 536-4568

Drawing Cheri Durthaler (714) 936-9188

Webmaster John Cosmos (909) 393-4241

Shavings President’s Message Vic Cohn Oh What a Night, do you remember that oldie? What more can I say about our last OCWoodTurners meeting? I think it was our best meeting ever, and made me feel extra proud to be President of such a wonderful group. Want to hear the original song, Oh What a Night, click on this link, http://popup.lala.com/popup/3963449151852981380 . The evening started with the election of the new President of the OCWoodTurners for the year 2010. As the vot-ing started, I took a minute to rally the members with a short speech to support me for President. And then the vote was called for. I won. I Vic Cohn get to serve another year as President of our great group. Of course, I still kind of wonder weather it was my well prepared speech, or was it the fact that no one else was running against me that insured my overwhelming victory. I guess I’ll never know and thanks for you vote. As we took care of some of our usual business, out of the right eye I could see our evening’s demonstrator, Bruce Lewellyn, wondering

how much longer he would have to wait to get his demo started. Now Bruce had gotten smitten at the San Diego Symposium with making miniature cowboy hats out of giant pieces of wood. Usually at this time of year Bruce would do his holiday ornament demo, but instead he showed everyone how to make a little hat that could maybe be used to hang on a tree as an ornament. Who knows? It was immediately obvious that Bruce was well prepared and delighted the audience with how well he described the tools he was using to shape the little hats. First the outside, and when it came to thinning out the brim of the hat, a special high power light was used to show through the wood so he could get it really really thin. I don’t think many of us had seen a light used to show the thickness of wood before, but the proce-dure worked out perfectly. Well, almost. You see, as Bruce was doing his demo, the judges for our annual turners contest were examining the entries to pick the winners. Now in order for Bruce’s light to show through the wood, we had to turn out all the lights. The head judge, Bill Haskell, then pointed out that it was going to be very hard to do a good job of judging in the dark. Hum. Well the lights stayed out until Bruce was finished, and then the judges went back to their selection process. It was time for the final step in the hat making process. How was Bruce going to put that little bend in the brim of the hat so it looked just right. To our surprise, Bruce mounted the hat into a wooden clamp and then used rubber bands to put pressure on the brim to make it curl over. The first rubber band was applied, and then the

second and it was time for the 3rd and final rubber band. And then there was this ‘snap’ and the crowd went wild, ‘oh no.’ I don’t know what Bruce was thinking when the brim which was too dry snapped, but I know all his fellow club members wished that Bruce was just going to say, ‘Oh well’ I guess S--T happens. Bruce, from all the members of the club, Thank You for undertaking such a tough project and delighting us with your turning ability. We sang happy birthday to the November birthday people, ate lots of yummy fresh snacks provided by Pam Lane, sold 50/50 tickets, and then gathered back together for the results of the annual turning contest. The judges for the night were Bill Haskell, President of the AAW, and maybe our most senior member, Tom Polhamus. Does anyone know if Tom is the oldest member at 88? The number of entries this year was great in both the turning categories and pen categories. The winners were as follows - Place Turning Master Turning Novice Pen Master Pen Novice 1st Ross Gilroy Roger Lang Dick Foreman Tom Daniels 2nd Jeff Davison Rick Boden Les Rogers Torger Siqueland 3rd Don Scott n/a n/a Ken Folstrom The Fred Adams Polychromatic Award went to Larry Marley, one of our newer members, but also one of our most talented. Congratulations to all of this years winners, a big thanks to the judges, and thanks to everyone who took the time to enter the contest. Speaking of entering the contest, this year, just for entering the contest, we awarded to free $40 memberships in the OCWA for 2010. The lucky winners were Rick Boden and Ken Cowell. Next months challenge will be either and inside out turning or a small hat turned on the lathe. The demonstrator will be Jim Driskell from Cerritos College who will talk about mak-ing the feature ring/design ring on a segmented piece. Don’t forget our annual holiday party on Friday, December 11, 2009 at the Tustin Senior Center. See you then.

Turner Committees

Outside Programs Craig Chambers (714) 761-9245

Pen Projects Ruthe Ingram (714) 536-3624

Workshops Vic Cohn (562) 252-2580

Wood supplies Jeanette Gonzales (562) 417-7750

Refreshments Chester Maharaj (714) 832-6203

Video/Sound Ralph Alder (714) 544-3328

Challenge Denise Paley (949) 830-0730

50/50 Drawing Bill Rogers (714) 637-2912

AAW Membership Victor Cohn (562) 252-2580

Logo / Shirts Harold Hardy (562) 429-1671

Nominating Craig Chambers (714) 761-9245 Art Fitzpatrick (562) 421-6992

Special Projects Jerry Nininger (949) 631-7530

Show & Tell Photos OCWA

Friday, November 27th started off with 29 of the toymakers gathering at Katella Family Grill in Or-ange. We all enjoyed a good breakfast before heading off the U.S. Storage facility up the street, where all the toys were being stored.

This year was more of a challenge as we needed to set up all the tables and place the boxes of toys on them before we could get started. Last year we were able to do this the day before as we were inside a warehouse. Anyway, we accomplished this task in short or-de r a nd wer e rea d y to ge t started.. Since we had so many people who were going to be delivering toys to one or more of the 52 organizations we now serve, I asked them to team up with one other person and pull all the toys for their organization. This went quite well and I think they enjoyed the "hands on" experience of picking the toys. We had detai led "pul l

sheets" (thanks to our son, Jeff) that made it easy to go down the line and check off each toy as they were put in the box. There was a group of 4H girls and boys who came to watch and wanted to help so they gathered up all the empty boxes and stacked them back in the storage building. They did an amazing job, running back and forth picking up the boxes. We finished pulling all the orders by 11:15 (approx. 3 hours). Another great effort by all involved. Jim Balestreri and his wife Maisie came and picked up their order for Kids Konnected, an or-ganization that supports kids who are dealing with cancer. It was great to see them again, and renew old friendships. We have a lot of our members who have serious health issues, but they keep going, helping when ever they can. Paul McGhehey came with his daughter Carol and her husband to help pick up three orders which they will deliver. Paul is one of our top producers of toys again this year. He had sur-gery a few weeks ago , and is undergoing ther-apy to get this strength back, but still wants to be

involved. Jim and Ann Steinmetz (also Mr. and Mrs. Santa) were pulling toys for three of the many organizations they visit during the holidays. Dustin and Susan Crook were a huge help again this year. Dusty set up the spread sheet and Susan was in charge of assigning the groups to pull toys. Carol Schott is such a great help as she did the wrap-up and made sure a letter got into each box and that each box was taped properly. Don Scott came by and took several pictures of the group before hustling off to Rockler's for their big sales day. Thanks Don!!! Everyone worked really hard and I think they enjoyed the experience. Now, we need to deliver all the toys during this next week. We made 4,736 toys this year, a little short of our goal of 5,000, but enough to cover the needs of 52 organizations. THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF THE BEST TOYMAKERS IN THE U.S.A. We have much to be thankful for this holiday season. May God Bless each and everyone of you in a very special way.

Toy Story Bill Rogers

First of all THANK YOU Victor for presenting my Freedom Pen Report in my absence.

2009 = 4,315 Shipped Plus inventory of 267 pens which only leaves 418 pens to reach our goal of 5,000 pens for 2009. WE CAN DO IT!!! Thank you ALL for making this possible!!! I’m not how many tours Major Scott Fitzgerald has completed since 2003 but he has been wonderful as far as sending updates every few weeks about the progress they are making in Iraq and since Major Scott Fitzgerald has been traveling through Iraq passing out our pens I have received over 20 emails thanking us for our beautiful pens and saying how much it means to them to have us remembering them as they serve. The cookies also made a BIG hit!

Another recent contact, Lt Col Crisafulli has also sent me several emails thanking all of you for the pens and the cookies.

I received this personal letter from his Commanding Officer, Colonel James S. O’Meara. Dear Ms. Ingram, On behalf of the Marines and Sailors of Marine Air-craft Group 26 Headquarters, I want to express my deep appreciation to you for taking time to send us a package from home. Your personal letter and home-made cookies were enjoyed by all, and your beautiful pens are on desks throughout the headquarters. Please know that your ef-forts have made a difference in the loves of the patriots in our country’s service. While we continue to focus on our nation’s

business here in Iraq, we also look forward to returning home to our families and friends in both our home station in North Carolina and across the country. I am fortunate to command some of the finest young men and women our great country has to offer, and it is comforting to know their sacrifices have not gone unno-ticed. These Marines and Sailors are extremely proud to serve, and to know they are in the thoughts and prayers of the citizens back home means a great deal to them. Thank you again for your support! Sincerely, James S. O’meara Colonel, U.S. Marine Corps Commanding Officer”

I am so grateful for all of you ‘ANGELS’ who make our con-tribution to the troops possible!!! Our next BIG event is the Christmas Party on December 11th and I hope to see ALL of you there so PLEASE don’t disap-point me!

HUGS, Ruthe

Major Scott Fitzgerald in Iraq:

Freedom Pen Project Ruthe Ingram

Nationwide Total = 100,320

Nationwide 2009 = 8,507

OCWA Total = 13,952 = 13.9%

OCWA 2009 = 3,919 = 46%

Bahret Bill 50

Bilevich, Robert 10

Bonta, Charlie 452

Brinkley, Brodie 8

Bruin, Linda 180

Foreman, Dick 105

Gibbs, Bob 770

Gilroy, Ross 30

Ingram, Ruthe 370

Lewellyn, Bruce 20

Musgrave, Len 50

OCWA Fair 400+

Potter, Bruce 364

Rogers, Bill (LHSOC) 509

Siqueland, Torger 100

Rogers, Les 190

Smet,Ed 69

Tilson, David 20

Tillotson, Don 30

Whiton, Bob 10

Wilmont, Fred 20

Smith, Bill 20

Folstrom, Ken 30

Hardy, Harold 10

Lewis, Audrie 10

Morris, Randy 10

Woodworking Show 60

Thorson, Eric 10

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

WHERE? Tustin Senior Center

200 S. C Street Tustin, CA 92680

WHEN?

Christmas Party Friday December 11th, 7:00 pm

Woodturner’s Meeting

Thursday December 17th, 6:30 pm

Board Meeting Thursday December 3rd, 6:00 pm

P.O. Box 1038 Fullerton CA 92836-8038

Friends of OCWA — Please Support Our Sponsors

Anderson International Trading

(800) 454-6270 Deft, Inc Laguna Tools

(800) 234-1976

Rockler Woodworking & Hardwoods (714) 282-1157

Austin Hardwood & Hardware

(714) 953-4000 Forrest Blades Reel Lumber Service

(714) 632-1988 Festool

Craft Supplies, USA (800)551-8876

Industrial Blade & Products Co.

Renaissance Door & Window

Woodcraft Supply (714) 899-1422

Sawdust and

Shavings

Monthly Newsletter of

The Orange County Woodworkers

Association

Visit us at the Web at: ocwoodworkers.com

The OCWA newsletter is sent out on the Saturday be-fore the Woodworkers Meet-ing . . . At the latest. Any articles you wish to sub-mit must be in my hands by the Saturday after the Turner’s meeting. Editor: poppyocwa@scottseagle.com