The December Appetizer and Dessert party started with members bringing food by the ton. With the appetizers there were cheeses, meatballs, spreads of various kinds, eggplant/tomato concoction and much more. Desserts included various types of pies, cookies and Danish pastry and much more.

Beating the members into their seats, the meeting started with Announcements.

Harold Patterson reported that the Toy Workshop held in November was a great success. The group made toy airplanes, block sets and crickets. The toys were given to the "Our Families Child Care Center" in San Francisco.

Frank Ramsey showed brochure boxes to hold BAWA membership applications and the description of the club. Volunteers are needed to distribute the boxes and then keep them stocked with brochures. A sign up sheet was circulated.

John Blackmore talked about Lane Stanton and Vance, an Oakland wood wholesaler, who has a new wood called Allowood. It is a soft Pine impregnated with various dyes to simulate a variety of hardwoods. A brochure was circulated to the membership.

A member showed a piece of Ipe flooring that was recovered from a debris box where a newly installed floor had been removed. Approximately 1500 BF of flooring is available for the taking.

Stan Booker is planning his next trip to Africa and will be taking another 50 pounds of donated tools. Members wishing to donate tools should contact Stan at 510 522-7879 or sbooker07@alamedanet.net. Cash is acceptable, too. One bag of cement costs $9 in Africa. They can build a house for $600. One month's wages averages $30, just to put things in perspective.

Mark Rand in his "begging" mode announced that the annual dues are now due, $30 per individual, $35 per family. You can mail him a check made out to BAWA at 665 27th St San Francisco CA 94131 or bring a check or cash to the January meeting.

Mark also reported that he got an email from a Robert Teisberg who sells 50,000 year old Kauri wood. This wood was either buried or underwater in the area of New Zealand and Australia. He can be reached at www.ancientwood.com If you go to Google and type in Kauri wood, you will find all sorts of information.

The club still needs someone to volunteer to do the refreshments at each meeting. No one has yet stepped up to do the January meeting, or beyond. No volunteer then no coffee, tea or goodies. Contact Frank Ramsay at 415 495-7002 frankramsay8@aol.com to do either one month or for the year.

Several prizes of wood were offered at this meeting. The raffle prize is for a plank of Pagoda wood, 18" x 96"x 2" thick. We had three contests and the winners got to pick from planks of Jatoba, Rosewood, and Jarrah. The contests were for best Christmas ornament, best Christmas present and best piece of furniture.

Per Madsen talked about meetings to come. For January, Glenn Krueg will give a turning demonstration. The February meeting will be a demonstration of vacuum bag forming.

Bill then called for guests to identify themselves. Jason Crouch, a self described inventor, problem solver and maker of window displays was visiting. He got a big welcome.

Next were the Annual Elections:

A call for members to volunteer and a potential list of candidates to hold the various club offices were presented to the membership for consideration. There were no volunteers so after a brief discussion, a motion was made to elect the whole slate of listed candidates. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. The new officers are:

President: Frank Ramsey

Vice President: Jay Perrine

Secretary: John Blackmore

Treasurer and Newsletter Editor: Mark Rand

Program Director: Per Madsen

Assistant to the Program Director: Stan Booker

Assistant to the Program Director: Fred Reicher

Membership Director: Neal White

The Contests were next.

For the Christmas Present Contest, Bob Hulgan made a jewelry box from a plan he found in Wood Magazine. He used quarter sawn White Oak.

Harold Patterson made a wood scraper from Black Walnut and polished brass.

Mark Rand turned a bowl from Bloodwood and Lacewood.

Bob Young made a clock/paperclip from Walnut and Curly Maple and a candle holder for three candles.

For the Christmas Ornament Contest, Mark Rand made a toy wooden soldier by turning several pieces of Basswood. It took him forever.

Bob Hulgan cut out several hanging ornaments using a scroll saw.

For the Furniture Contest, Stan Booker made a garden bench/storage chest for his wife from left over clear Redwood. The unique thing about the chest is that the drawer and bottom were made with galvanized wire mesh to ensure good air circulation, promoting fast drying of tools and clothing.

Arnold Champagne brought in the octagonal, glass windowed, display cabinet he made for the Woodworking Show at the College of the Redwoods. His objective was to make a display case that would allow the viewer to walk completely around the displayed item, viewing it from all sides, without obstruction. The base is made with 5 sided, curved Mahogany legs joined by an apron of Honduran Mahogany. The 8 sided glass display case sits on the base, concealing a secret compartment. It has a removable roof, permitting easy replacement of the displayed item. The top is held in place by dowels. Pear wood is used as trim to hold the glass panels. The top and case bottom are Eucalyptus.

Bill Henzel presented photographs of two pieces of furniture. The first piece, made of Honduran Mahogany, is a headboard with a sunrise design of alternating wedges of Padauk and Mahogany. His second piece is a living room couch made of Mahogany using a latticed system of wood slats to support the bottom and back cushions.

The break was next where more of the goodies were consumed.

After the break, we had Show and Tell.

Frank Ramsey brought a 5-sided Chinese style display table. He had shown us an earlier prototype at a previous meeting. The transformation was remarkable. Made of White Oak, the table will be ebonized black when finished. He is having trouble finding the exact shade of black for the ebonizing. The legs are joined to the collar section with mortise and tenon joints. Between each leg is an apron of fretwork first cut on the band saw, then finished on the scroll saw. The piece is very intricate and elegant.

Fred Reicher showed us a small crafted Walnut box a friend of his had retrieved from someone's trashcan. The sides were angled and twisted.

Frank Taylor showed us two items he had made. The first was a small child's rocking horse. Several members commented that this toy would be a good piece to make in the Toy Workshops. His second item was a small turned barrel that holds $5 in quarters.

Showing a Favorite Tool was next.

Bill Henzel showed us a curved carving spoon he bought from Garrett Wade. He uses it for carving the seats of chairs. Somehow the discussion turned to a more versatile tool - the Makita impact driver. Then, Frank Ramsey brought out his old brace, as in brace and bit. There was a thread of connection between the three tools, somewhere.

The meeting was concluded with the raffle, door prizes and contest results. Bob Hulgan's jewelry box won the Xmas Gift Contest, Mark Rand's Toy Soldier won the Ornament Contest and Arnold Champagne won the Furniture Contest. All walked away with a great plank of wood.

John Blackmore won the Pagoda wood plank in the raffle by buying 2,000 tickets.

No one stepped up to do refreshments for the January meeting. Maybe we'll go to Meals on Wheels.

Full of appetizers and sweets, a satisfied group went home.