DuPage Woodworkers stress 'learning by sharing'
The thrill is undeniable.
You start with a pile of boards, some jars of nails and screws and a shop full of idle tools. A few days (or weeks or months) later, you have something you made that you can show your family and friends.
It doesn't matter whether your creation is a simple birdhouse, a toy for a child or a piece of furniture with intricate inlays and dovetail joints. Whatever it is, it didn't exist until you created it.
The DuPage Woodworkers are 133 men and women who know the thrill of turning some lumber into something unique. It's a hobby, an art, a set of skills and the woodworkers make it their mission to share it with others.
The group, launched more than 15 years ago in a corner of a Lombard lumber store, meets monthly so members can share ideas, techniques and information. Under the motto "learning by sharing," club meetings and activities offer members opportunities to learn about woodworking and subjects related to the hobby.
This month's meeting, for example, aims to help members record their creation process in scrapbooks and slide shows.
Between meetings, members work on their own projects as well as helping the club craft toys for needy children and build furniture for the Glen Ellyn church that hosts its meetings.
Publicity Chairman Bill Hochmuth tells us more about the club and the thrill of woodworking.
Q. What is your group's mission?A. To promote woodworking at the beginner, intermediate and advanced levels based on our motto, "learning by sharing."Q. How do you work toward accomplishing that goal?A. Shop tours, group visits to furniture and equipment manufacturers, lumber mills, museum tours, woodworking shows, woodworking seminars and many other related venues expand the horizons of each member and challenge them to learn just how far they can pursue their interest. Many scheduled instructional sessions, generally at a member's shop, demonstrate things like sharpening, hand tool usage, chip carving and Shaker box making. In the near future, full-day demonstration/presentation sessions by recognized authorities in their fields will include finishing, face frame and cabinet making, box making and others.Q. When and why did the club start? How has it grown?A. A group of five woodworking buddies discussed the idea of starting a club in late 1994. They approached Owl Hardwood in Lombard, requesting a corner of the business to have the first meeting. Much to their surprise, with a limited amount of publicity and word-of-mouth, more than 50 woodworkers showed up for the first meeting on Jan. 4, 1995. The founders were clearly impressed and forged ahead with developing a club charter and the other related materials to begin regular monthly meetings. Overwhelmed by the numbers, the DuPage Woodworkers quickly found a new home at the College of DuPage where a member had access to an appropriate meeting room. Again outgrowing the available space, another member suggested our current meeting place at St. James the Apostle Parish, where we enjoy spacious quarters and have an excellent relationship with our landlord. Since its inception the club has grown from the original five buddies to a current roster of 133 members.Q. What kind of successes have you had?A. Perhaps the DuPage Woodworkers' most significant successes are first in the symbiotic relationship we enjoy with the organization that provides our meeting place. We support their endeavors with output from our shops such as furniture pieces to match the existing decor and repairs around the building that our members are capable of doing. Second, while we wonder if we ourselves aren't the benefactors, the club's production of more than 700 toys for children's charities each holiday season is a success we're quite proud of. And lastly, each year the DuPage Woodworkers sponsors a wood and wood related items auction. Anyone is welcome to attend the auction and submit their items for sale.Q. What challenges does the club currently face?A. To support continued growth while maintaining the highest standard of quality for our meetings, demonstrations, presentations and educational gatherings.Q. What do you wish the community at large knew about the organization? A. Since our club addresses a very specific segment of the folks in our community, we only wish we had a way to involve those people in woodworking who may be unaware of us and who have a desire to create with this wonderful medium. We feel that many are unaware that help, guidance and education are close by. New members and those guests who visit us from time to time, sometimes accompanying the interested party, seem amazed at the varied levels of work our members make, from a very basic birdhouse up to and including pieces that have received national recognition.Q. Who are your members? What qualities do you look for in new members? A. This question raises concerns that many of us who love woodworking continue to try to resolve. At a typical monthly meeting, an observer standing at the rear of the group might notice that the predominant hairstyle is none or very gray. Certainly most are aware of the disappearance in the educational system of all forms of vocational training as well as the lack of money for those interested in the arts. This significantly cuts into the pool of younger people who may choose to pursue a club-type relationship if they were given the basic beginnings in their schooling. That's not to say we don't attract some younger folks, but our ability to reach them is limited. Our board will discuss the possibility of visiting high schools to do small presentations regarding the potential of woodworking as everything from a hobby to a profession. We require no specific level of expertise of new members, only that they have an interest in woodworking; secondly that they adopt our motto of "learning by sharing" and that they are willing to offer their knowledge and learned wisdom to other members in the club who may be interested.Q. What do you expect of your members?A. The DuPage Woodworkers members participate and contribute at whatever level they can provide to enable our monthly meetings. We gently persuade members to help with the various tasks; table/chairs set up, coffee preparation and cleanup. We ask our members to volunteer to make some of the hundreds of toys we donate each year to children's charities. We ask some of our members skilled in specific woodworking activities to do presentations/demonstrations. Our board of directors and committee chairs are a volunteer group and are elected by the membership each year to fulfill the management needs of the organization.Q. How can readers get involved?A. We welcome visitors at our monthly meetings, inviting them to attend several gatherings before deciding on membership. We invite visitors to our Web site, dupagewoodworkers.org, where they will find a wealth of information about our club as well as a form to download to apply for membership. <p class="factboxheadblack">If you go</p><p class="News"><b>What:</b> Guild Day</p><p class="News"><b>When:</b> 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, April 24</p><p class="News"><b>Where:</b> Rockler Woodworking, 253 W. Golf Road, Schaumburg</p><p class="News"><b>Details:</b> DuPage Woodworkers and other guilds offer membership information; demonstrations of bowl turning</p><p class="News"><b>Info:</b> <a href="http://rockler.com/retail/index.cfm?store=10" target="new">rockler.com/retail/index.cfm?store=10</a></p><p class="factboxheadblack">Next meeting</p><p class="News"><b>What:</b> "Your Woodworking Project Has a Wonderful Photo Story," ideas for using photos and video clips to preserve the making of a woodworking project</p><p class="News"><b>When:</b> 7 p.m. Wednesday, April 28</p><p class="News"><b>Where:</b> St. James the Apostle Church, 480 S. Park Blvd., Glen Ellyn</p><p class="News"><b>Info:</b> <a href="http://dupagewoodworkers.org" target="new">dupagewoodworkers.org</a> or <a href="mailto:info@dupagewoodworkers.org">info@dupagewoodworkers.org</a></p>