PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE MAY 2026

It’s been a busy spring for the club and me.  A week ago, we had our first shop tour in over 5 years.  5 of our member’s shops on Camano Island were open to our group.  Every time I go to someone else’s shop, I take away a few great ideas from tools I should buy, storage techniques I wis to implement and tools I didn’t know I needed.  Touring other member’s shops give us a greater understanding of other ways to complete the tasks needed to become better makers, as well as having a sounding board for new ideas for future projects.  One thing I have learned and is frequently reinforced, is that there are many ways to accomplish the same tasks.

Last weekend we had a strong showing at the Skagit Valley Wood Expo and Marketplace.  We had many of our members displaying woodworking techniques and lots of finished products that our members have built.  We had the Wood for Good corner where our members helped kids build toy cars that they could take home with pride.  Also the Builder Board area had lots of activity where kids and parents built full sized play houses.  We proudly showed hundreds of visitors from all corners of our state and beyond a great entertaining and educating time.   

This morning I attended the monthly shop talk that is held every third Tuesday in Bellingham at the Skylark Cafe for a no-host breakfast and coffee from 9 am to 11 am. This gives us a chance to talk shop with people of all woodworking skill levels. As a prototype for other areas, I hope we see similar shop talks pop up throughout our geographic area.

If you haven’t already checked out our Special Events Calendar, take a look, we have lots of education events coming soon from sharpening and block plane usage to panel glue-ups.  My goal for each educational event I attend is to take away at least one golden nugget of knowledge that I can apply in my shop.  I have yet to be disappointed.  Most of our educations programs cost between $5 to $10 and are taught by an expert in that aspect.  If you aren’t already taking advantage of this club benefit, I challenge you to take at least one class or shop talk in the coming quarter.

Remember the President’s Challenge!  This year’s theme is “Make Something From Recycled Materials”.  If you are building or plan on building a project that can re-use some of our precious resources, I challenge you to bring it to our September meeting in place of the bring and brag for the meeting.  Every entry will be given an equal chance to win, which will be decided by a random drawing.  So if you are beginning woodworker or a seasoned craftsman, I want to see your entry.

I hope to see you at the May 5th meeting at the Mt. Vernon Library Commons at 7 pm.

Earl Kessler