I frequent several woodworking forums. One of them, SMC, or “The Creek”, also known as Saw Mill Creek, sees a lot of posts on a daily basis and from time to time, someone will enter a post about gatherings of woodworkers in someone’s shop.
This time it was a little different. Bill drove up from the Dallas-Fort Worth area to take care of his father’s estate, with the help of other family members who live in the Kansas City area. Mark got wind of Bill’s trip, and posted on SMC about it, wondering if anyone might be interested in a get-together for dinner and woodworking stories.
Three of us (plus the visitor) were able to make it to this nice little gathering for a few hours: Greg Cole, Bill Huber, Mark Page (the organizer), and yours truly. We chatted about our jobs and, of course, our woodworking shops, equipment, and woodworking stuff in general.
One thing that struck me was their terrific and interesting jobs; and they love woodworking as a hobby. Wonderful!
Now, for the record, the evidence - in the photos, from left to right: Greg; Bill, the visitor of honor; Mark, The Organizer; and me:
The gathering:
Greg describes the width of a board 
:
Thanks, Mark, for making all the arrangements. I enjoyed the gathering, the company, and the conversation, tremendously!
The Village Carpenter
on June 29 2008
What fun! Woodworkers always have something to talk about, don’t they? Glad you had a good time.
Al (Sandal Woods)
on June 29 2008
Thanks, Kari. You are right - we always have something to talk about!
Neil
on July 1 2008
Hi Al:……….if you would have said to me a year ago, you should go to a woodworking get together, I would have said, no thanks or if there’s a wood source near by, I’ll stop over. This year the decision to step out of my shop a bit more and try to see woodworking differently has been more than I expected.
The conversation, the different approaches, the mix in ages, and most importantly the laughing, loads of laughing have added a new perspective to my woodworking.
I bet that was a fun time………….Neil
Al (Sandal Woods)
on July 1 2008
Hi, Neil. It was great fun to meet these three fellow woodworkers.
I pretty much used to feel as you described.
But, as you learned this year, I now see these gatherings in a totally different light. After two years as the President of our woodworking Guild (ended in Dec. 2007), these gatherings show me that I always learn something new, something different. And I like this new perspective.
Thanks for sharing your experience!