February - March Newsletter

Hats off to Bob Locken!

Thanks to Bob's initiative and willingness to get things done, advertising for our Annual Christmas Show and Sale at the Parkridge Galleria appeared in two issues of the Shoppers News. Even though Bob did not have a table to show off his carvings, either for show or for sale, he paid the bill for the ads and has refused to accept any reimbursement from the club treasurer. Too bad the show had to be canceled because of the weather! We'll probably never know how much good those ads might have done. Thanks anyway, Bob!

News that appeared in a few Internet Events Calendars about rescheduling the show for the next Saturday was completely worthless-- (judging from the few people who showed up that day to shop for woodcarvings). In fact, getting enough traffic at the Park Ridge Gallaria on any given day to make it worthwhile enough to attempt a sale of woodcarvings may be expecting too much--regardless of the amount and type of advertising we could muster. Maybe it's time for a change! (Where have we heard that before?)

The possibility of setting up a booth at the Side Walk Arts Festival next September in down town Sioux Falls was discussed at the annual meeting last month, and Vice Pres. Dick Sabers offered to investigate that possibility. It will be interesting to see what he has to say about that at our next meeting, Feb. 16th.

Who can doubt Paul Harvey?

A new sharpening tool recently advertised by Paul Harvey prompted me to check it out on the Internet web site. They had video demos for two models, the 2000 for $130, and the 3000 for $250. I thought the see-through disk and air cooling features of both models were quite interesting--not to mention lightweight portability. I began to wonder if it would be worth spending that much money for still another sharpening tool.

Then one day I happened to be shopping at Menard's (again) and noticed a large display of the model 2000 on sale for $99.99. I began to wonder if we could get Treasurer Huntimer to part with another $100 and buy one for the club to use at meetings.

A week later, needing still more material for a kitchen cupboard remodel (and to get away from "Super Tuesday" TV), I returned to Menards with a fairly sizable Big Card rebate check. After loading my cart with a sheet of oak plywood, I went to look again at the Model 2000. There was only one left on the shelf and a guy was watching the video. I grabbed the box and said, "Excuse me, I need this for a product evaluation.."

I'll have it available for anyone to try out at our meeting, Feb 16th. There's a link to the website at www.sdwoodcarvers.blogspot.com
~~~Sec. Arne

Meet the Members

Rollin Manning has been a member of our club since 2000. During the 37 years he worked as a meteorologist, ("Weatherman"--for those of you from Nunda), he lived in North Dakota, Michigan, Indiana, Georgia, Arizona, and finally in South Dakota, where he concluded his career. Rollin admits it was frustrating at times, working against all the weatherman jokes, but he was correct 60-70% of the time--which, he said, wasn't all that bad. He retired in 1990. A year later Marian, his wife, joined him in retirement after years of serving as a dietician in hospitals and nursing homes.

Together, they have four children and ten grandchildren, and they spend a lot of time traveling between Tennessee and Colorado to visit family members. From January 10th through May of this year they will be enjoying the warmer weather in Arizona.
Rollin is a late bloomer in carving. His first wood projects were building bookcases for himself and for family. Then he "graduated" (one could say) to carving. Good Move! His favorite projects are bears, birds and other wild life.

Things we don't know about Rollin are that he is a stamp collector and a presidential gold coin collector. A third thing we don't know about him is that he became 81 last June. And forth, Rollin went directly from High School into the Marine Corp. It was the last year of WWII, and Rollin was on his way to invade Japan when the two bombs that brought that war to and end were dropped. Later, as a member of the National Guard, Rollin served in the Korean conflict.

We are glad Rollin survived his adventures in the military and in the weather reporting business to become a fellow wood carver.

After retiring from John Morrell & Co., Don Clementson worked as a craftsman for a bank in Brandon. His wife, Marge is engaged in the antique business, buying and selling at a booth in trading shows and through an antique store. When not carving, Don enjoys reading westerns and playing golf, and Marge likes to play Bingo. Don and Marge also enjoy taking their camper to Branson and Wisconsin, where they will stay ten to fourteen days at a time. They have two children and one grandchild.

Since Don joined the SD Woodcarvers Club fourteen years ago, his talent for woodcarving has grown, and he has gained a reputation as one of the area's best, along with Jim Savage and Jerry Bergeron, whose works are well known by art collectors in and beyond the Sioux Falls area. He likes to carve various styles of "Santa" figures and walking sticks, but his favorite carvings are large portraits of Native Americans and Mountain Men. Such pieces have won him several Best of Show awards at the Center for Western Studies Annual Artist of the Plains Show and Sale and at the Sioux Empire Woodcarving Exposition. (His Mountain Man that won the People's Choice Best of Show in 2002 is still pictured in the "Gallery" page of www.sdwoodcarvers.com.) Don usually participates in three art shows a year. One is our annual Parkridge Show and Sale. The other two are out of town sites. Don also participates in competitive shows.

When asked what we don't know about him, Don says that he is "old". Hey, Don! Welcome to the club! Speaking of which: besides growing old with the rest of us, Don's service as a club member has been very commendable. Numerous times he has offered instruction on various projects and served as president for five or more years! Many thanks, Don, for sharing your skills with us and for encouraging the rest of us "carvers".

At last report, Don has won a battle against the cancer that was slowing him down during the past year, but last Jan. 8th as he was getting the mail he slipped on some ice and broke his leg. We wish you a speedy recovery and look forward to seeing you again soon!

Notice of Annual Meeting:

The Annual Meeting of S D Woodcarvers Inc. will begin at 9:30 AM, Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008,
Room 503 of the Ed Wood Trade and Industry Center,
Southeast Technical Institute,
2301 Career Place, Sioux Falls, SD.

The purpose of the meeting shall be (1) to elect officers, (2) to conduct general business pursuant to the goals and purposes stated in the Corporate Charter and by laws, and

(3) to deal with issues related to the specific projects and activities preformed in the past or to be preformed in the future by the members as a group.

Chip carving, continued from the December meeting, has been planned for the after-meeting program. New cutouts and patterns will be available.

Next Meeting: December 15, 2007

The December meeting of the S D Woodcarvers will be held December 15th, at the Ed Wood Trade and Industry Center, room 503, located on the south campus of Southeast Technical Institute in Sioux Falls, SD.

Planned activity includes a contest for cash prizes for the best in four projects featured at club meetings during the past year: (1) Dala Horse, (2) Apple, (3) Puppy Dog, (4) Any of the other completed meeting projects. Also scheduled for the December meeting is a chip carving project with star ornament cutouts furnished by Derek Boekhoff.

As usual, we look forward to sharing traditional Christmas goodies!

October - November Newsletter

Greetings SDWC members and fellow woodcarvers!

A lot fine work by many of our members went into carving 4X4 samples for the wooden quilt so expertly assembled by John Cummings into a remarkable display that should be placed somewhere for viewing by the general public. Currently it resides in my basement in the midst of books in boxes, my few carvings, and a collection of clutter that seems to increase exponentially as it clamors for a permanent resting place. John said the quilt belongs to the club, so it is the club which must assume the power to rescue it from its current demise and decide how best to insure its benefit to society.

Shall we put it up for auction at the Park Ridge Christmas Show and Sale and donate the proceeds to charity? Shall we find a public place, restaurant or bank, art gallery or grocery store, where it could be hung on the wall with a dispenser for club brochures? Or shall we just put it into storage along with the round redwood signs and bring it out once a year for the fair? I look forward to hearing your decision on this matter at the next meeting.

Your Secretary, Arne Bortnem

Last Meeting…
We enjoyed the company of new member Glen Novak and guests Derrick Bookup and Ryan McKeever. Since March of last year Craig Johnson, Paul Seevers, Arlyn Thomas, Lloyd Whitley, Dennis VanGoor, and Bob Miller have all signed up as new members.

With so many new faces and names to remember, Vern Luke's suggestion that we enact a penalty for not wearing our name tags might be in order. How about let's prove to him that we can all remember to wear our name tags without the penalty!

Next Meeting...
Saturday, October 21, 9:00 AM, at the Ed wood T & A Center. Blanks for carving tree ornaments and small items that might be good for Christmas gifts will be available.


Meet the Members

Dennis Van Goor (Club member for two years)

Dennis Van Goor’s home is in Sioux Falls with wife, Dianne. Together, they have four children, eleven grandchildren and one great grandchild. Dianne’s hobbies include a mission in Bolivia called “Manosmao” (Hand in Hand) and spending time with their grandchildren.

Dennis is a retired USDA Meat Inspector who worked in packing plants in and round the area of Sioux Falls—even as far away as Esterville, Iowa. After USDA, Dennis followed his desire to drive a truck and is now employed at Runge Trucking.
The first carvings completed by Dennis were log chains, which he carved for his mother and sister, in 1992. Classes in Blue Earth, Minnesota helped him get a good start. The USDA job had varied hours and prevented regular participation in a club, so he carved by himself until retirement. Then two years ago, Dick Sabers invited him to come to our club and he joined. Dennis likes to carve caricatures and whimsical houses from bark. Dennis says he lost count of the number of farmer shoes and caricatures he has carved and given away to Dianne, his family and friends.

Member since 1984Something few of us know about Dennis is that he is a motor cycle enthusiast. Also, Dennis discovered that judges can be different when eyeing carvings. The one blue ribbon entry and 2 or 3 reds from the Sioux Empire Expo were entered in the Spencer fair and won 3 blue and 2 reds!

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Bob Locken
Bob Locken lost a leg in 1982 and tried many things to keep busy. Carving wood was one thing that kept his interest. Computer was another.

Bob’s work at NW Bell got him into working with computers. His first computer was an English model built before 1982. He did bookkeeping for his congregation in addition to his work. Today, Bob uses the tool for his finances, Email, and pictures (another hobby).

Back to Woodcarving: Bob retired in 1983 and tried several pursuits to keep busy. Several SD Woodcarvers invited him to join their club. That he did, and he enjoyed the club. Then, after moving to Colorado, he and a friend started up a carving club there. Bob helped start another carving club at Asbury Methodist Church in 1996. That club is still active with the evolvement of many of our SD Club members. One has to say that the loss of a leg hasn’t kept Bob from being an active club member.

“It’s like a bunch of guys (sorry Nancy) sitting in front of a fire place, a real pleasurable experience”.

Bob likes to carve caricatures, but his work is not for sale. All one has to do to get one of his carvings is say, “I like that one!”

Another bit of Bob’s history is that he served as club secretary for several years before he moved away to Colorado—in fact we suspect getting out of that job was a big motivation for his moving! We are indeed very blessed to have him back in our community.

Post Script: Robert Locken, retired employee of Northwestern Bell Telephone Co., died Sunday, June 5, 2016 at Southridge Health Care.   Miller Funeral Home Obiturary