We live in one of the best areas for boating in the United States and several of our members are involved with boating. Some have even built or are building their own wooden boats. Join us on July 2nd at the Hillcrest Lodge to see what they have done. Members will be displaying their creations in the parking lot for us to inspect and maybe even get inspired by! From a cedar strip kayak to a wooden dory and who knows what else? And after this meeting, maybe you should consider attending the Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival September 6-8: http://woodenboat.org/festival/. Another way to get inspired is to visit the Northwest School of Wooden Boat Building in Port Hadlock: https://www.nwswb.edu/. If you have a wooden boat that you would like to include in our meeting and haven’t already been contacted, please let Jerry Couchman know (360-255-1984).

NCWA members will be exhibiting their work at the Cascade Mall in Burlington on Saturday, June 15th and Sunday, June 16th. 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.

On June 4th, we return to the Hillcrest Lodge in Mt. Vernon and Eberhard Eichner from Bellingham’s RE Store will be our guest speaker. Eberhard grew up in Berlin and became a furniture maker and finish carpenter as an apprentice before moving to the Pacific Northwest. For about 30 years he built custom furniture, fancy pipe organ cases, doors and windows and many other things, but now concentrates on recycling used materials into custom furniture that is both whimsical and beautiful. He is so successful at this that the Washington State Recycling Association recently recognized him with their Reuse Recycler of the Year award. Since 2011, he and his counterpart in Seattle’s RE Store have been responsible for creating over 400 furniture items from recycled materials, thus saving over 50,000 pounds of materials from our landfills! Eberhard will be demonstrating his techniques and will bring some examples of his work. See the RE Store’s website and click on Remade Furniture to see an eye-opening gallery of furniture that Eberhard has made: http://www.re-store.org/

On Tuesday, May 7th we revisit Jim Hume’s fabulous shop. Jim is one of the founding members of our club when it started in 1984, and also a founding member of Artwood, a cooperative art gallery in Bellingham. Jim’s wife, Erica, is Artwood’s manager. Jim has literally spent his life working on cars and woodworking. His cars range from hot rods to dragsters and even include a car that is currently undergoing testing/trials with the goal of exceeding the conventional, wheel-driven piston-powered auto speed record by at least 100 mph! He’s currently modifying a 38 Ford hot rod with a Corvette drive train and frame. His woodworking includes beautiful furniture, segmented turnings, jewelry boxes and cabinets. His shop is amazing and big enough for us to hold a meeting in, but if you would like to rest your feet, bring your own chair. To learn more about the land speed record car, check out http://Target550.com.