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New England Lumberjocks Get-Together - See Post #2 for Update

4K views 45 replies 25 participants last post by  Lenny 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Calling all interested Lumberjocks! Let's have a New England get-together.

Hi folks, as I have mentioned on two recent posts on LJ, I am seeking to organize a get-together of New England Lumberjocks (others are also welcome). I have taken some steps towards that end and I'm making this my first post regarding the status. I feel we should wait until Spring for this to avoid a postponement or cancellation due to our sometimes harsh winter weather. And while April-May might seem far off, it will be here soon.

I have contacted the North Bennet Street School in Boston's north end and confirmed that they will allow us to hold a meeting at their location. Here is a link to their website: "North Bennet Street School" http://www.nbss.org/index.aspx. My contact, Camille, said it would be best if we could meet while school is in session and added that late April or early May would be best. I stated that a Saturday would be the preferred day of the week. Accordingly, I am throwing out for consideration the following as possible dates: April 17th, April 24th, May 1st and May 8th. Let's see what kind of replies we get and make a final date a bit later. When/if you reply to this post with a comment that you will or hope to attend, please indicate what, if any, dates you can make.

Camille said she has thoughts on which rooms might be appropriate for us and is heavily leaning towards one in the Cabinet and Furniture-making section. As you will see on their website, they also offer classes in jewelry making and repair, carpentry, violin making and others. I expressed that the primary purpose of the meeting is for us Lumberjocks to meet and get to know one another a bit. She has asked if it would be alright to have some of the school's students join us. As she is being gracious enough to have us, I said sure. I later told her that we might initially want an hour or so to meet and introduce ourselves. Purplev (Sharon) commented that to his line of thinking they are welcome for the entire meeting. We might recruit some new Lumberjocks. That makes sense to me. How do you feel about this? Camille said we can have a tour at some point during day.

Regarding the "agenda" for the day, unlike Sharon who kindly allowed folks to arrive at noon last year, I am thinking of a 10:00 a.m. start. The first 2 hours could be to meet and socialize and then have some kind of activity, presentation, or whatever folks might like to do, and then break for lunch at noon. More on lunch in a moment. We could reconvene at 1:00 for a tour and perhaps more chit chat about projects, things folks brought with them, etc. This is just a suggested agenda. I am open for other thoughts/ideas.

Regarding lunch, the Italian north end is a wonderful place to dine. There are nice restaurants in various price ranges as well as pastry shops. (Sharon and I are partial to "Mike's Pastries".) If we take an hour (or more) for lunch and Italian food is not your choice you can also take a walk from the north end to many nearby restaurants including the famed Quincy Market where you can not only eat but shop too . I will make restaurant information as well as driving directions available to everyone. Speaking of driving, parking WILL be an issue. The school does not have sufficient parking to make it available to us. As you might imagine, free on-street parking in Boston is practically non-existent. There are plenty of parking lots and garages available at varying costs. If familiar with the commuter rail and "T" in Boston, you could park at a commuter rail or T station and ride a train in. I will offer any help and information I can, but I am afraid this area will be up to individuals to manage.

Lastly, I will be working on a couple of sponsors to offer some items we can raffle or award to the winner of a quiz or contest. At the very least I will be contacting Woodcraft and Rockler. If anyone else has ideas or can assist in this area, the more the better. So, spread the word to any "jocks" you think might be interested. I think I will post a link to this post on the other two posts I mentioned. The 2009 gathering had 8 jocks plus a spouse. I think we can increase that number at this meeting, right folks?
 
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#2 ·
Glad to see it posted!

I think May might be better weatherwise, and will give people a little more time to plan ahead.

another thing we can do is carpool to minimize the parking issues in Boston. since most of us leave outside the city, we can probably pick each other up, or something similar in concept.

last time around I didn't have enough time to go through a sketchup hands on turorial - so many this time around we can dedicate some time for that as I know some people would still like to have that going.

I'll contact another woodworking company and see if I can get more sponsors.
 
#8 ·
Hi Karson. I actually communicated with Tom recently but did not address sponsorship with him. I forgot that he has his "Major League Woodworking" website. That's an excellent suggestion that I will follow through on. Thank you.
 
#15 ·
Sounds good. As in my email to you, lots of things going on in the spring, graduations, weddings etc in my family. I'd need to see where you guys narrow it down to and then get back. Enjoyed it last year. Hoping to let you know when all the particulars are done.
 
#18 ·
This is great everyone. As I stated above I will post periodic updates as a final date is arrived at. Ellen and Dan thanks for your PM replies and it's great to know you are interested in a return engagement. Paul_F, welcome to Lumberjocks and I agree that this meeting will be a great way to dive into the essence of Lumberjocks…it's great members. I am going to contact DebbieP to see about getting this posted in the LJ newsletter too.
 
#21 ·
You're welcome NewPilgrim. I hope you will be able to join us. Many thanks MsDebbie. That will surely help with our exposure. Oops, did I say exposure to a Canadian and a group of New Englanders in the middle of winter? Oh well we're made of hearty stock right? Six more weeks of winter? Bring it on!
 
#22 · (Edited by Moderator)
Hello Lenny …thanks for the PM notice about this event : ) Seeing as I've never been on the 'T' , how much "carry-on" stuff could I realistically bring with me and do they have regulations to follow ? ChuckV also mentioned that it is a 20 minute walk from the T to the school. I really think that carpooling would be the answer . Did she say that their parking is overwhelmed even on Saturdays ? I've got about a two hour drive from this side of the Commonwealth , but certainly am interested in attending.
You've also planted a seed as far as visiting schools goes . I'm about a half hours drive from NSAW http://www.nesaw.com/ and might be able to check that out if anyone shows interest in going : )
Also , we have been invited to open a booth next January at the WoodWorking show in W.Springfield MA. All in the development stages at this point. Looking for ideas from fellow Jocks and Jockettes : )
 
#24 ·
Len, I commute daily from RI. I take the commuter rail train from S. Attleboro to Boston. College kids (and other travelers) often have large luggage in tow on Fridays and at vacation times. The conductors don't like it, but they tolerate it. There are overhead storage racks but on the double cars, there's not much that fits up there. The singles can fit just about anything. As for the T or subway system, because they are usually so crowded with passengers during business days, there is less room for such luggage but I do on occasion see people with luggage on their way to Logan Airport. The good news is the commuter rail and T are used far less on Saturdays so I do not see you having a problem with whatever you are capable of toting. I hope that helps. Anyone else with thoughts that might help Len?
 
#25 ·
hello fellow New England lumber jocks. I still feel bad about missing last years get together. As I mentioned for last years meeting, weekends are hard to attend. Work calls. I hope at attend. Please keep us informed. If I can commit I could participate in a carpool. I live very close to the North End.
 
#26 ·
Any of those dates will work for me except April 24th when I will be on a plane to Texas for work.
NBSS is a wonderful place. I've taken a couple of their workshops and have come away from both really excited about woodworking.
One comment about getting there - parking is really hard to come by in the North End, especially on Saturdays, and is very expensive (in the range of $25 per day which usually kicks in after about 2 hours). As for traveling by T the Haymarket Station on the Orange line is the closest one to NBSS. From there it's about a 10 minute walk unless you're really slow like me.
 
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