This year our annual Toys for Tots presentation and dinner will be in November instead of December. Moving this up to November gives the Marine Corps League more time to make their distribution to families that need toys for Christmas. This is one of NCWA’s most important missions, so let’s all help dedicate the great toys our members have made for Toys for Tots! This meeting will start with a pizza and salad dinner at 6:00 pm and the meeting and Toys for Tots presentation will begin at 7:00 pm. I encourage all members to bring their spouses and other guests to help us celebrate this great event. Cost for the dinner is $5/person.

Don’t miss the October meeting in the Hillcrest Lodge! We have invited another professional woodworker who will be doing a presentation about his woodworking experiences and style of work. David Gray has been building beautiful arts and crafts furniture since 1978. His shop is in Langley on Whidbey Island, and he currently displays in several galleries in the Northwest, including Artwood in Bellingham , Northwest Fine Furniture in Seattle, The Wood Merchant in LaConner, and several others. David likes to keep his furniture simple with clean lines with you can often see elements of the Green and Green style in his work.

Our next regular membership meeting will be Tuesday, September 6 in the Hillcrest Lodge in Mt. Vernon. The program for this meeting is Jigs and Tricks. This is where all of you get to show off all those clever ways you’ve discovered to get things done in the shop. It might be a jig that you created to solve a woodworking problem or to speed up a process, or it could be any kind of trick or technique that you’ve discovered that works for you. When we share our ideas, everyone benefits! And don’t forget to bring those projects you’ve finished recently for our Bring & Brag session.

On Saturday, August 20, we’ll be gathering at Val and Laura Matthews place at 1PM for the annual picnic and tool auction. This is a combined Northwest Corner Woodworkers Association and Northwest Washington Woodturners event, and has become somewhat of a tradition over the years. Val and Laura have ample parking and space for this, and all you have to do is show up with a side dish (salad, dessert or whatever), something cool to drink, and a lawn chair or two. Normally, we eat about 3 PM and close the bidding for the auction at around 4 PM. Don’t forget to bring your significant other and something to sit on. The two clubs provide the burgers, hotdogs, brats, fixings, paper plates, plastic ware and napkins.