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14K views 110 replies 39 participants last post by  a1Jim 
#1 ·
Picnic Time!

I've been thinking about this for quite a while, and was waiting for the right moment to get this going. After talking about it with several of you MA residents, and getting a good vibe from you guys. I think it's time we make it official:

Lumberjocks of New England Picnic Day

Aiming date - 2nd weekend of Sept - when the weather is a bit less humid, and more convenient. based on weather - this might be changed to 3rd weekend if needed.

Location - Since I'm bringing this up - the event can be held at my place - we have a large grassy patch, next to the garage/workshop. I'm conveniently located in Winchester, right off of 93/128 intersection, near route 3A, and Fellsway. It's a central location in East MA near Boston which might be convenient also for NH, VT, ME, and also CT, and RI peeps to get to - but with that in mind - any other offer, or suggestion for a different location is also welcome.

The Plan - Fun time !
Getting together face to face with all the other Avatars, BBQ, Bring your kids - Bring your better half, Bring your worst half - it's all fair and square, and the more the merrier.

Everyone is welcome to bring any woodworking related items they wish to share, or introduce to everyone else

If anyone has access to 'free' materials/tools/ideas - feel free to bring a bunch and spread it around - I already can account for Masonite sheets (40"x48") and Granite Slabs (for sharpening purposes, etc)... I'll try to come up with others if I can…. but you get the idea.

If anyone can think/get a sponsor to help out - GREAT! (whether it be sponsoring a location, or t-shirts, or key holders, or magnets… you get the drift)

If anyone thinks they can run a short class on a certain technique or the likes- that could be another fun activity to go through…

any ideas - feel free to bring to the table.

I know your names, and I know where you live - dont make me come over and get you :)

Peace, and have a great weekend.

Sign your name here if you plan on attending. Hope to see you there.
 
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#27 ·
Dates and Location

We have been granted the use of the Lexington Woodworker's Guild for our LJ Picnic Event! I want to give special thanks to tpastore for helping to get this through. Thanks Tim!

The Date: Sept 19th 2009, Noon

The Location: Lexington Woodworker's Guild (click on the link for directions and the Guild's website)

The Plan: A Get together with a woodworker's flavor.

More Details:

We are not allowed to BBQ on site, but can bring already cooked/made food. I was thinking about doing a 'personal' food swap - we've done it in other forums and it was quite successful - the idea is that everyone makes a personal family dish or something in the spirit of one, and brings it over, and we can all get a taste of everyone's cuisine, can be an appetizer, a main dish, or a desert - all fair and square. but we'll have to make some list so that we won't run into all deserts… (although not a bad idea to some).

What do you think?

Everyone is welcome to being their current projects/jigs/other for a show'n'tell with everyone else.

As Suggested, If anyone wants to bring stuff to trade/swap - this would be a great opportunity for that.

If anyone is interested in anything that other's might have - feel free to post it here and ask if anyone might have something that would work for ya'

Please Post a comment on this thread if you plan to attend. post "Will be there", or "Tentative" so that we can get a head count and can plan accordingly.

Also please post any ideas to make this event better.

Hope to see you all there soon,
Sharon.

P.S. I was also thinking about presenting the Guild with some Lumberjocks "Thank you" plaque for letting us use their facilities. anyone got an idea for such a thing (link/pics to similar things)?
 
#28 ·
Barring some God altering event the wife and I will be there. Probably with some crock pot chili. She's good at that. It's about 1 hr 45 min from where I am in Maine.. very doable distance. Am I to assume it might meet around noon for a few hrs to give people time to get there and get home?

Oh, purp… the women call it "pot luck". Food swap describes it but "pot luck" is the official term LOL! Let's hope many sign up so we can call it definitely on.
 
#53 ·
Update - the Date is near!

As you all recall, We have been granted the use of the Lexington Woodworker's Guild for our LJ Picnic Event. I still would like to present them with something in appreciation of the gesture - but am not sure what - any ideas?

I would also like to thank Rockler for stepping up and sponsoring us with some goodies that will be raffled between the LJ attendees. Thank you Rockler!



This really presents the same great customer service, and positive experience I've been getting from Rockler.com and the Cambridge, MA store all along. Thanks Again!

Now, We have a bit of a set back in regards to food restrictions, no show stoppers - but it appears we are not able to conduct the "pot luck" we had hoped for, and no proper lunch settings - only snacks and drinks of sorts. I would really have liked to have everyone for lunch time rather than have people scatter around, or come later - but there are several places to eat around Lexington, so we can either group up and go grab something to eat somewhere, or eat before/after/go-grab-a-bite-and-come-back if someone is hungry during the day.

I suggest we can each bring a bag of chips/bagels/popcorn/drink and just have snack-type buffet.

SO!

The Date: Sept 19th 2009, Noon

The Location: Lexington Woodworker's Guild (click on the link for directions and the Guild's website)

The Plan: wood wood wood! (be nice).

Everyone is welcome to being their current projects/jigs/other for a show'n'tell with everyone else.

As Suggested, If anyone wants to bring stuff to trade/swap - this would be a great opportunity for that.

If anyone is interested in anything that other's might have - feel free to post it here and ask if anyone might have something that would work for ya'

I will be bringing my laptop and will conduct some one-on-one one-on-several tutorials using Sketchup if anyone is interested, and if so - bring your questions, or models if you have specific requests.

I will also keep a list of LJ's that showed up (also be used for the raffle) so please sign in when you get there!

Hope to see you all there soon,
Sharon.
 
#70 ·
Last Call.... All Aboard!

The Picnic is coming up this Saturday Sept 19th 2009, Noon at Lexington Woodworker's Guild (click on the link for directions and the Guild's website)

Please Bring with you:
1. Things you'd like to share with fellow LJs
2. Things you'd like to swap/trade/sell with other LJs
3. Yourself! (yeah… I'm pretty sure some would forget that one)

we'll have some tours of the shop, and the exhibition gallery that is being held at the guild as well.

In terms of food/snacks, we are not allowed to bring any food that requires refrigeration/cooking, so we are basically limited to dry stuff. Ellen is bringing a box of bagels, Daniel is bringing Coffee, Chuck is bringing homemade cookies, and I will be bringing doughnuts and disposable plates/cups. tables/chairs are provided by the guild. If anyone can bring some sodas, or other snacks - please do. PM me is you're not sure what to bring, or want to make sure nobody else is bringing the same thing. Thank you!

For Kids Entertainment - if you ARE bringing young ones - bring a board game, so we will have a collective of things for them to share and play together.

As a reminder, I will conduct some Sketchup sessions with anyone that wants to get familiar with it, or have some specific questions. if you have a sketchup project that you'd like to discuss - bring it on a USB drive/CD.

Thanks again to Rockler for sponsoring us and donating several sets of Bench Cookies which will be raffled between the attendees!


Hope to see you all there soon,
Sharon.
 
#83 ·
Thanks Everyone - That was a Fun Day!

With the number of tentatives, and number of cancelations, I knew we'd had less people that I had originally planned for this morning, which was fine, but as high-noon approached, I was pleasantly surprised to see on top of the definite-be-theres, a good presence of LJ's I did not know had planned to come - that was awesome!

All in all we had counted 8 (+1) Lumberjocks (with Daniel's Wife being the +1 - definitely a +!) it was really nice she came):



Special Thanks to Tim (tpastore) for setting up the use of the Lexington Guild House. it is a very nicely setup place where guild members have a full shop at their disposal. I would also like to thank the Lexington Association of Art for letting us use their shop for our get together.

Additional Thank you is to Rockler, who contributed 4 sets of Bench-Cookies for this even which were raffled at the end of the day, and here are the happy winners:



these look really great for routing work on the workbench and similar applications.

The day started by touring the shop, which is a fully equipped shop with every needed (220v) tool, central cyclone DC, and several work benches so that several people can work simultaneously. We made sure those workbenches are heavy duty enough for us lumberjocks by spreading our foods/drinks/snacks all over them and utilized them as dining/conference tables - they seem to be able to handle THAT much stress… nicely done.

The day developed into a show-tell circle around the workbenches where we shared where we're from, what we do for work, and what kind of woodworking we do. I personally learnt more than enough new things to last me until next year. it was a real treat to have such a friendly, positive, and open social discussion with others who share a similar passion.

We also got to tour the rest of the building which includes 2 galleries, and other guilds activity rooms. the current exhibition that is being displayed in the main gallery was quite remarkable. we even found Tim's wood business card holder being used to …well… hold business cards of one of the artists… if you're in the neighborhood - I definitely recommend to stop by and check the exhibition out.

We continued with the share/swap of things, I think some of us got some really terrific new toys to add to the collection, while others brought back with them some terrific new stories, and connections.



I came back home with a few pieces of pen blanks (I don't have a lathe, but can use them for knobs/drawer-pulls, and similar small accents) that Len (Dusty56) brought for everyone. I got 1 Bloodwood blank, a couple of Brazilian Rosewood, and of course - some Purple Heart blanks… after all, gotta stay true to the LJ Name…

Thanks for everyone that came - Tim, Ellen, (does that qualify as Tim Allen the tool man? lol) Daniel and Joyce, Chelle, Kate, Charlene (Shar Lean), and Len. Without you, it wouldn't have been as fun.

Hope to do this again soon.
Sharon.

P.S. for all those who attended and have pics and want to share them - post them in the comments :) - and if I mispelled/butchered you name - sorry… PM me and I'll edit it - please!:)
 
#84 ·
Sharon: I'm glad that you had a great get-to-gather. Having picnics or at least get-to-gathers are a lot of fun.

Thanks for being the driving force behind it.
 
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