March - San Diego Woodturners

San Diego Woodturners Page 14 March 2011
On Thursday, February 17th, my
husband Maury and I headed out
to drive to Mesa Arizona. I was
anticipating the Woodturning
Symposium and he (who doesn’t
turn wood) was excited to go
and see Cabella’s Sportsman
Warehouse.
On Friday afternoon I went to
pick up my registration packet
and then attended the opening
ceremony. As soon as I got
there I found Mike Mahoney
and several of our club members
such as Scotty Van Hoften, Paul
Terlow, Barry Rockwell, Mavis
and a few others. We all went off
to the presentation of “Where is
woodturning heading” It was
interesting to hear the same old
argument of Traditional turning
versus Art.
Several headed to the Pen Turners
event but Maury and I headed
over to the Sports Bar with
Mike Mahoney, Steven Hatcher,
David Nittman and Jimmy and
Mary Clewes. This would be our
new hang-out which had pretty
good food and a hopping happy
hour.
Saturday and Sunday were
filled with watching presentations
from the likes of Hatcher
with how to pop the grain of
maple and Christian Burchard
on how to orient the grain and Al
Stirt on green wooden bowls. I
always seem to end up in Mike’s
presentations because I totally
enjoy his style and grace when
Desert Woodturning Roundup
demonstrating. He makes it all
look so simple when he uses the
McNaughten System to cut 8 or
10 bowls out of one blank.
They had a nice instant gallery
with works from all the demonstrators
and many attendees.
There was a sales area with
numerous vendors selling everything
from wood to tools and
everything in between. I found a
few items I couldn’t do without
but I did have money left over if
you can believe that. There were
different items offered in their
Silent Auction each day and
Saturday night during the dinner
they had a live auction. I think
they needed an auctioneer that
actually knows what he’s looking
at though.
The Desert Woodturning Symposium
occurs every other
year and is an enjoyable time
that doesn’t take too long to
get there. They didn’t have an
especially large crowd so I hope
they at least broke even and will
be planning on another one. If
you get the chance you should
drive on over in a couple of
years and see what a symposium
is all about. There is always
something new to learn and
visiting with old friends is worth
it anytime.
-Karen Freitas
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