On Saturday, August 16, we’ll be gathering at Val and Laura Matthews’ place from 1-5 PM for the annual picnic and silent tool auction. This is our traditional combined Northwest Corner Woodworkers Association (NCWA) and Northwest Washington Woodturners (NWWWT) event and takes the place of our normal monthly meeting for August. This year it’s our turn to cook, and Charley Drake and John Bellinger have volunteered to cook. The club provides burgers, brats, dogs, sodas, water, paper plates, and all the fixings. Please bring a potluck salad, desert, or other side dish. Also, bring your own lawn chairs and if you have a folding table that can be used for the silent auction, please bring that as well. See the August newsletter for directions.

SILENT AUCTION

For those of you who have never participated in a silent auction, the rules are pretty simple. The seller displays the item for sale with a sales sheet listing the item, a short description of the item condition (e.g. new, works good, needs repair, etc), seller’s name, and minimum acceptable bid if the seller wishes to state one. Anyone interested in the item simply enters a bid and their name. Anyone else interested in the same item enters a higher bid on the next line. Normally, bids should advance by at least 10% over the previous bid. Check back often to see if you are still the highest bidder. When the cutoff time is announced, the highest bidder wins the item provided their bid exceeds the stated minimum bid. The bidder then pays the seller, so don’t forget to bring money or your checkbook! You never know what might show up for sale! The form that you need to fill out and bring for any silent auction items is included in this month’s newsletter.

On Saturday, July 12th at 10:00 am, we will meet in the small town of Edison to see Smith and Vallee Woodworks. This will take the place of our normal Tuesday evening meeting. Wes Smith and Andrew Vallee started their successful business in 1997 after studying furniture making under Alan Rosen, a Bellingham woodworker and member of Artwood. In 2002 Andrew Vallee and Wesley Smith presented The Tree Project at the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham. The exhibition focused on the transformation of a single big leaf maple that was taken from a sustainably managed forest. For three years Smith & Vallee studied, documented, and crafted this tree into 55 pieces of furniture including a 65 foot long sculpture that replicates the original shape of the tree. During this meeting, which will also include Bring and Brag, we’ll see their shop, which includes an old converted 1890’s barn, visit their gallery, and get a chance to purchase really nice figured wood in their cut-off tent. Following the tour, members are invited to stay in Edison for lunch in one of the local establishments. For more info on Smith & Vallee, check out their website at:

NCWA members will be exhibiting their work at the Cascade Mall in Burlington on Saturday, June 14th and Sunday, June 15th. Club members are encouraged to bring a project or two for the display. In addition, volunteers are needed to help with setup and to staff the exhibits during the show.

In the past some novice members have felt their projects have not been good enough to merit inclusion in the show compared to the work of our more accomplished members. “NCWA includes members of all skill levels,” organizer Phil Choquette said, “and we want to demonstrate that fact in all our displays at the Mall. For new members, we’ll have our brochures and short information sheets that will help answer questions and, of course, some ‘experienced’ members will be on every shift.”

For more information, or to volunteer, please contact Jerry Couchman at 360-255-1984.

The Mixed Media Challenge is your opportunity to bring a project you’ve created that blends some other material or object into something you’ve made. This is not a contest between members, just your chance to do something wild and crazy, or shall we say show us how artistic you really are! Anything goes – glass, metal, stone, tile, fabric, old rusty junk, coins………?? And of course wood probably should be included, right? President’s challenges are always a lot of fun because we never know what to expect! See you there!