Monday, December 5, 2016

The Cork Chapter of the I.W.G. held its AGM on Saturday, 3rd December 2016.

Donal Ryan with the finished item
To start the proceedings we had Donal Ryan from the Limerick Chapter doing a demonstration.  Donal chose to do a shallow, lidded, bowl, in ash, with an ebonised finial.  Donal is a very accomplished turner and has won many competitions around the country and has featured among the winners in the National competitions.  His finished product seen here is sufficient testimony to his skill and competence.  Thank you Donal for a wonderful demonstration that kept the members in wrapt attention for the two and a half hours.
Only the finial left to do

After the demonstration we held our usual Christmas ‘party’.  The temptations provided by the wives/girlfriends – maybe husbands/boyfriends too – proved too strong for many of us with a sweet tooth, leaving us with no option but to climb a few trees in the following days to try to get back in shape.

Peter Manning's beautifully turned Crib.
We had a great array of turned items on display.  This was not a competition and each member was asked to bring in three items.  We had a great display that included bowls, lamps, candlesticks and even a 12 piece crib that was wholly turned on the lathe without carving of any kind, yet each ‘character’, including winged angels, were easily identifiable.
Some of the members' completed work on display.
Some more of the members' completed work on display
We had a full agenda that included all the usual items that are included in every A.G.M. and we quickly got through the usual minutes and reports. 

There was no change at the top table and John Ahern continues as Chairman with Mick Bouchier as Hon. Secretary and John O’Shea as Hon. Treasurer.  Michael Pattwell is again the Vice-Chairman and P.R.O.

Gerard Hennessy opted to give more of his time to Health & Safety issues (Helped by Jerry Twomey) and he handed over the job of Competition Secretary to David Lee.  The competitions sub-committee was enlarged to include Brendan Griffin, Séamus Healy and Michael Pattwell.

Joe Kennedy continues as Librarian.

Kieran Higgins opted out of the committee as he lives away down in West Cork and it is difficult to attend meetings and his place was taken by Stephen Pearson.

The meeting approved a new set of rules for the monthly competitions.  In fact they aren’t much different from the old ones but needed to be reviewed.  Anybody who wants a copy can get one from the Hon. Secretary or the P.R.O.  It was also agreed that a small token prize would be awarded to each category winner.

The Chapter accepted a proposal from the floor that a motion should be submitted for the A.G.M. of the Irish Woodturners Guild providing that each Chapter should be entitled to nominate a representative of that Chapter to be a full committee member of the I.W.G. with full voting rights on all issues.

We have arranged for our Annual Seminar and Master-class to be held at Togher Scout Hall and Tony Farrell’s workshop on the 1st & 2nd April next and we look forward to seeing Scottish turner, Richard Kennedy, do his stuff.  A brochure and booking form should be available shortly for those interested in attending.

A list of the workshops scheduled for 2017 is now available from the Hon. Secretary.

Based on points awarded from competitions during the year Joe Kennedy was the clear winner and he was presented with the Chairman’s “Woodturner of the Year” award for 2016.  Well done Joe.
Joe Kennedy, "Woodturner of the Year, 2016" receives his award from Chairman, John Ahern.