The Miami Valley Woodcarvers Association held their 24th annual
show March 5th and 6th in Middletown, Ohio. It was perfect
weather for a show – chilly and rainy. It wasn’t bad enough to keep
people at home, but was too nasty for people to be out working in their yards. Our
attendance this year was 650, down from last year, but still respectable.
What’s good for attendance isn’t good for the chainsaw carver. Club member Kim McClinchy braved the inclement weather to demonstrate chain saw carving
outside. We all enjoyed our banquet dinner at the end of the day, but Kim really
needed it!
Our feature carver this year was Desiree Hajny.
Dezzy instructed our seminar on how to carve a ram’s head, and judging from the number of impressive sculptures
at our next meeting, she’s an outstanding instructor as well as carver. Dezzy’s
table was the center of attention at the show, as much for her sparkling personality as for the stunning carvings she displayed.
Our efforts at gaining publicity for the show this year were a little more
successful than last year. We explored newspaper advertisements, but rejected
them as too expensive. We settled on sending out press releases to newspapers
and TV stations as we did last year. Most newspapers have special sections devoted
to non-profit club events, and we were listed in these both this and last year. Also,
we received very nice feature articles based on our press release in the Middletown Journal last year and in the Franklin
Chronicle this year. Many websites give instructions on how to write press releases. We also sent out a flyer with information on our feature carver and pictures, and
this is often incorporated into the feature articles. In addition to newspapers,
we had a visit from a local TV station. They took some footage and interviewed
our club president, Lowell Dunn. The footage did not make it onto the news that
night, and we’re not sure if Lowell was disappointed or elated.
The club website also played a role in getting publicity for our show and club. Roger Keith from Appalachian Connection visited our show. Appalachian Connection is devoted to the people and culture of Appalachia.
Knowing that woodwork and carving are major components of the culture, and that many people in this area possess an
Appalachian heritage, Roger and his daughter Jennifer visited the show and our meeting the week after to interview and take
pictures. We’re looking forward to reading their article.
Our show almost didn’t come off this year, thanks to our previous club
president and vice-president, Rich Baginski and Mike O’Bradovic. These
guys set the bar so high with last year’s great show that everyone was reluctant to step up and this year and take on
the job. Fortunately, Lowell Dunn took on the job of president. We had no vice president, so Lowell bravely shouldered the VP duties of organizing the show. Fortunately, Rich and Mike gave us a tremendous amount of help, and other club members volunteered to take
on each of the many tasks for the show. One of the most daunting tasks was just
finding out what had to be done, and where all our various forms and form letters were.
Lowell has taken it upon himself to collect all the various paperwork, along with a list of tasks for the show, and
put them all together in a “Book of Knowledge” for the next organizer. This
should really help make the job easier, and we applaud Lowell for his efforts.
In addition to the numerous club members who freely volunteered their time
and talents, our sponsors also helped make our show a success. In addition to raffle prizes, our sponsors
(a number of whom were also exhibitors) generously donated such an amazing amount of loot that everyone attending our banquet
received a door prize.
Winners in first-second-third-honorable mention order were:
Human Realistic: Kathy Johns,
Kathy Johns, Randy True, Norb Hartmann
Ornamental: Kathy Johns, Glen
Stewart
Other Realistic Bird: Bill Hamon,
Don McHugh, Bill Hamon, John Wilkins
Paxton Woodcraft Best of Show: Kathy
Johns, Buell Burns, Mac Proffitt
Animal Realistic: Buell Burns,
Kathy Johns, Glenn Stewart, Kathy Johns
Stylized: Buell Burns, Hershal
Borders, Randy True, Bob Becker
Relief: Keith Dillworth, Norb
Hartman, Bruce Henn, Steve Blevens
Aquatic: Don McHugh, Buell Burns,
Don McHugh
Caricatures: John Niggemeyer,
Bruce Henn, Glenn Stewart, Gloria Bowling, Mac Proffitt
Santa/Mythical/Religious: Mac
Proffitt, Hershal Borders, Hershal Borders, Candy Lytle
Open: Hershal Borders, Bob Minton,
Don McHugh, Bob Becker
Chip Carving: John Niggemeyer,
William Clifton, William Clifton, Gloria Bowling, John Wittenback
Novice: Monica Finan, Roger Kimmel,
Gloria Bowling, Gloria Bowling
Best Table: Babe Middleton
The Han-D-Craft awards were
Songbirds: Jim Rawlings, Monica
Finan, Glen Stewart
Wildfowl: Jim Rawlings, Don McHugh
Birds-of-prey: Jim Rawlings
