Meeting Minutes – December 7, 2024

Meeting Location: West Baton Rouge Museum, 845 Jefferson Ave., Port Allen

• Fellowship before meeting
• Collection of dues (Rick Albrecht) and selling of shirts and caps (Lee Owens)

Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance – Richard Robles for Harold Choate (working as election commissioner)

Welcome and Introduction of Guests– There were 13 members present and 3 visitors.

Officer Reports:

• Vice-President – George Campagna- George reviewed the details of the 2025 schedule which has something scheduled for each month of the year, but he warned that this was subject to change and members should watch the website and emails to keep up with schedule changes. George also solicited suggestions from members for a field trip next year.
• Secretary – Richard Robles reported for Harold Choate who was absent because he was working as an election commissioner. In November, there were 17 members attending the meeting and 1 visitor. Our Facebook page remains popular as shown by 527 likes and 634 followers. Harold will continue to monitor and report on the Facebook page. He said that it has been an honor for him to serve as the Secretary for the past 2 years.
• Treasurer – Rick Albrecht- Rick reported an ending balance of $5,777.37 which included a check of $1400 from O’Brien House for chests of drawers and a check of $300 for T-shirt sales and membership fees. He requested that any outstanding checks be cleared by the end of the year.
• Webmaster – Open
• Community Service – Bob Pace- reported that 20 chests of drawers have been done for O’Brien House and that 40 more are needed for them. The downtown museum project has been completed. Bob will be speaking to the Veteran’s Home about their trellis request.
• Education Outreach – Open

New and Ongoing Club Business

• Dues for 2025 – Richard reminded club members that club dues of $20/year are payable and will be collected until March of 2025.
• Community Service Volunteers – Richard repeated his request for community service volunteers to help Bob Pace with operating the Community Service program. A minimum of two assistants would be needed. Richard reminded the club members that the previous Community Services coordinator, Lee Owens, had helpers but that these are no longer available. There are a variety of tasks associated with the Community Services program aside from the actual woodworking and Bob cannot do this alone. Please consider doing this important service and volunteer. Richard reluctantly said that if necessary members could be “volunteered”.
• Bird House Wood Sourcing – Richard said that the reliability of useful Bird House wood was declining and that continuing to rely on donations as in the past could very well put us in the hole insofar as having an adequate supply of reliably good wood for Bird Houses. He asked that club members think about this problem and present suggestions for solutions to be presented and voted on in the future. As of now, we have plenty of Bird House kits for the Swamp Fest this coming October but this may be a problem afterwards.
• Christmas Festival @ WBR Museum – Richard asked for 2 more volunteers for the Christmas Festival at the WBR Museum in Port Allen. There were some volunteers already but 2 more were needed, with one to be used as a back up incase one of the other volunteers could not make it. The Festival is scheduled for Friday December 13th from 6:00 to 8:00.

Members Questions/Concerns

Safety Topic – Richard underscored the importance of matching the blades, bits, and other cutters to the machine being used. It is very dangerous to use a blade rated at a speed of 3,000 rpm on a saw that rotates at a speed of 6,000 rpm. This kind of mismatch can result in serious personal injury and damage to the machine as well. Art Miller recommended an article on table saw safety which he read on line.

Skill Topic: Shaper Origin Handheld CNC Demo – Bill Carter

Show-and-Tell

Adjourn

Please bring the following items to the meeting: