Fellow Members ---

It is August and my thoughts turn to a drive for new members. The number of opportunities to present who we are and to try pique a woodworker's interest to consider joining BAWA seem to have fallen off in the last few years.

We used to use the San Mateo Woodworking show as an opportunity to talk to fellow woodworkers and hopefully convert some of them into new members. Unfortunately this show no longer comes to the Bay area. Due, I expect, to a mixture of economics, the growth of woodwork shops in the area (it is not that long ago that our nearest Woodcraft shop was in Dublin), and to the success of on-line suppliers such as Amazon.

Until last year we enjoyed being part of Woodcraft, San Carlos's Open Weekend. They had many vendors in their car park and we had a table and exhibits there. Unfortunately this show will not be held this year. There will be another, smaller, event we can attend at Woodcraft over the Labor Day weekend and I will let you know more about that shortly.

I am asking for you, all of our members, to help in a membership drive this year. We talked briefly back in January of asking every member to try and contact a friend or an acquaintance, that is a woodworker and bring them to one of our meetings. I am sure they will enjoy it and there is a chance if you ask them they will consider becoming members. It is only $30/year for all of our meetings.

The next few meetings are good opportunities to try and bring a friend. We will be at our "home base" of Foster City for the rest of this year. The August meeting is focused on hands-on planing which is a topic a woodworker can always learn more about. Then in September we have a new format for a meeting. It is panel discussion on improving and expanding your workshop. The meeting will be full of practical shop advice for any woodworker. Then in October it is our annual hand planing seminar where we learn more about planing that we ever knew existed. This is always a very well received meeting. We have many experts within our Association and this one is presented by 3 members who are truly plane experts. They know everything from the history of planes to all of the practical aspects of sharpening and using them.

As you can see we have several interesting meetings over the next few months. It will be great if you can bring a friend to one of the meetings, introduce him to some of the other members and maybe at the end of the night your friend will be a BAWA member.