The Blackhawk Woodcarver
Volume XXV, Issue 9
Presidents Report
September 2020
Our outdoor carving sessions, which
we initiated this past month, have been very enjoyable. We have about eight
to ten members each week. If you have forgotten, we currently meet each
Wednesday between 10:00 am and noon at Sinnissippi Park shelters 1 & 2. We
are able to physically space out and utilize masks. We still continue the
social interaction including sharing of information, experience, expertise,
and resources. Additional members even stop by for shorter visits to say
hello and see what others are carving. The weather has been very pleasant.
Even as the temperatures pushed into the 90s, the morning coolness along
with the abundant shade and light breezes make for very pleasant carving and
spaced out social interaction. I believe we can continue this method through
September and even October. November will probably bring and end to our
outdoor carving sessions; but we will strive to tie the club together in
other ways, such as, this newsletter.
I have an important club event which is coming up and
should be addressed: elections! We are speeding toward the end of the year.
As slow as this year of isolation and distancing has felt at first, it seems
to be passing very quickly. I have prepared a plan for how to conduct this
year’s election. We need to establish and then announce a list of candidates
for the four elected positions by October. Then hold the election in
November. So how do we do this during this time of no live formal meetings?
As president I plan to once again establish a Nominating Committee of a
minimum of three independent and experienced members. This Committee’s job
is to solicit members as possible candidates for our four elected officers:
President, Vice-President, Secretary, and Treasurer. The Committee would
then establish and publish the list of candidates. From then on, Chuck
(Membership) Drewes will issue emails to all members announcing the
candidates, the start of the election process, the election results. Chuck
will also act as our Election Judge and will collect all votes and tabulate
the results. As always, we will try to compensate for those members who do
not have internet accessibility. Actual votes maybe submitted via email,
telephone, or even post office mail. Chuck will be responsible for insuring
only current members’ votes are counted (and only once). There will be a
voting cut-off date established and published. After that voting cut-off
date and with a minimum of a simple majority of our current member votes,
the election will be closed and an email from Chuck would announce our 2021
club officers. This is the plan I am currently following. I also believe
this form of voting via email, phone, or USPS should enable even a greater
member voting participation.
There is another alternative which
has been brought up by a couple of members: Suspend or delay the election
for this year. To do this, I believe we require a crafted motion, preferably
with a second, which we could distribute to the membership for consideration
and an eventual vote. Personally, I do not believe a delay offers any or
little value. This would cause additional work and delays which I definitely
do not favor. Many of us believe that the COVID-19 situation will not be
brought under reasonable control until next summer. Consider we are an
organization made up of older members in the designated higher risk
category; plus our meeting location is at a retirement facility. I believe
Peterson Meadows has to exercise extreme caution in opening up their
facilities to outsiders like us, especially in mass. Delaying an election to
next summer or even into next Fall puts us so close to the start of the 2022
election cycle that it offers little benefit with too much extra effort. I
realize that the virus concern has adversely impacted you and certainly the
way the club operates; but we are still a club and I am still trying to have
it function as fully as possible. Holding the election may seem of
questionable value but it does offer to each of us the opportunity to
consider and express our feelings or opinions for the future.
Unfortunately, I have not discussed these items adequately with the other
three members of the Executive Committee. I will continue to try to keep the
membership informed of our plans as we move forward. Information will be
forwarded to each of you by official emails via Chuck Drewes.
Unfortunately, I have not discussed these items
adequately with the other three members of the Executive Committee. I will
continue to try to keep the membership informed of our plans as we move
forward. Information will be forwarded to each of you by official emails via
Chuck Drewes.
Please consider all of this. Stay
healthy and enjoy each day!
Tyrone Johnsen
A meeting was not held, therefore no
minutes.
Passed
Treasured Carvings
When we return to monthly meetings,
members are encouraged to bring in SHOW and TELL items along with carvings
that are tucked away from the past. Even though you might
be tired of looking at them, they may be teaching tools for others. Dust
them off, bring them in, or send a picture for the next newsletter.
October
Birthdays (that we Know of)
6 Herb
Page
9 Tony DeVita
9 Carrie Lay
14 Carol Behning
17 Mary Wilder
29 Jack Basford
Door
Prizes
Passed
Treasured Carvings
At our monthly meetings members are
encouraged to bring in SHOW and TELL items along with carvings that are
tucked away from the past. Even though you might be tired
of looking at them, they may be teaching tools for others. Dust them off,
bring them in!
Vice Present
Treasurer Larry Stenzel
389-4714
Secretary Steve Terrill
708-0471
Committees
Programs, Richard Dunphey, 633-9003
Webmaster & Newsletter Editor Gordy Moscinski 874-7978
Membership Chuck Drewes 985-8575
Photographer Steve Terrill
Picnic Tony Devita
T
A big thank you to all who
contributed pictures and commentary for this newsletter.
Great job!
Keep sending your pictures by the
October 7 deadline.
A new bowling ball, Darth Vader.
Bob Coleman
For the first time in a long time, I
actually did a carving last week! It’s a humuhumunukunukuapua’a,
Hawaii’s state fish. I plan to carve a series of reef fish, mainly
because they’re so colorful.
Larry Stenzel
The smaller one:
Here's two different kinds of
Nuthatches in process. One is bigger than the other and has a different
profile.
We have both types at our feeders in
the winter, but we don't see them in warm weather.
Chuck Drewes
My first road runner.
Bob Matthews
This is a woodburning of our lake in
the Northwoods of Wisconsin.
Gordy Moscinski
The local Musky Area Woodcarvers
group loves to carve birds. They are having an influence
on me. This is a carving of a whimbrel.
Gordy Moscinski
This is a carving that I did years
ago. It is a Bufflehead duck.
Gordy Moscinski
Martha Fitch
Bunny Nordheim
Bunny Nordheim
Tyrone Johnsen with
some low relief tropical fish and a Santa.
Richard Prutz
Tony DeVita
Don Stansfield
Frank Lay
Dennis Neubauer
Bob Hallstrom
Roger Benedict
