28th Annual Woodcarving Show and Sale
May 5 & 6, 2007
Carvers
and vendors from 9 states came to the Ozarks to exhibit, compete,
demonstrate and sell their carvings/wood turnings/carving supplies
at the North Arkansas Woodcarvers' 28th Annual Show and Sale that
was held May 5 and 6, 2007 at the Baxter County Fairgrounds in
Mountain Home, AR. Over 147 ribbons, plaques and awards were presented
including 51 cash prize awards. Randy Landen, the competition's
judge, carefully scrutinized the 205 carvings entered for judging
from the 45 categories. Randy was assisted by NAWC club members
Roberta Dulaney, recorder; Debra Bergum, photographer; Jay Nottingham,
announcer; Dick Dulaney, carving entry table; Norm Rutledge, carving
entry handler; Bonnie Davis and Sandy Smith, show coordinators.
Kathi Clark
arranged for fresh brewed coffee to begin each day of the show
and doughnuts on Saturday morning. Ray and Jean Kropke worked
the entry booth making sure that everyone visiting the show was
warmly greeted and received a door prize ticket as well as a People's
Choice Ballot. Admission for both days was free, but donations
are always greatly appreciated. Jody Nottingham assisted by Karen
Rutledge, Margie Clements and Margie Dotson, did a wonderful job
selling tickets at the raffle table. Barb & Sidney Edelbrock,
Norm Rutledge, Curt & Deen Shirkey, Dave McConkey, Ellen & Bob
Karpen and Warren Brown handled the club and door prize tables
selling T-shirts, mugs, hats, memberships, etc., and coordinated
the drawings for the hourly door prizes. Behind the scenes "sign
committee" members were Norm Rutledge, Warren Brown, Dick Dulaney,
Bonnie Davis, Kathi & Jerry Clark, and Gary & Sandy Smith. Nine
extra tables were lent to us by the Lakeview Community Club with
permission from Ray Greeley and were picked up / returned by Doug
Stephens and Curly Caldwell with help from Gary and Sandy Smith.
Sid and Barb Edelbrock also picked up/returned additional tables
from the Clarkridge Volunteer Fire Department.
Art Boatright
of Marion, IL again pleased the crowd at the entrance to the building
with his wonderful chainsaw carvings. Art donated a magnificent
chainsaw "Welcome/Go Away" Bear for the raffle that was won by
Lola Doughty of Mountain Home, AR. The NAWC "Friendship Walking
Stick" was won by local carver Joyce Trieble and the NAWC "Friendship
Cane" was won by Tom McGlynn of Hillsboro, MO. Sherrye Futterer
of Russellville, AR won the $50 Savings Bond donated by Liberty
Bank.
Our
club, in a joint effort, put together the walking stick and the
cane for the raffles. Carvers for the walking stick were: Kathi
Clark, Jim Clements, Sandy Smith, Norm Rutledge, Naomi Inglett,
Len Dillon, Sid Edelbrock, Anna Sue Hickman, Ken Doran, and Charley
Roets. The cane contained carvings donated by: Kathi Clark, Robin
Brinker, Len Dillon, Lenora Bryant, John Uelmen, Jay Nottingham,
Ray Bryant, Norm Rutledge, and Ken Doran. Kathi Clark carved both
handles and Sid Edelbrock assembled them. Much interest was displayed
for all of our Raffle items as was shown by the number of tickets
for each carving.
Len
Dillon's "Unlimited Hand Tools" Whittling Contest was a very popular
event this year. Len's "wood carving friends" generously donated
knives, gouges, roughouts, mugs, gift certificates and catalogs
to his contest. Sadly, Len was unable to attend due to a medical
condition, so NAWC member Roland Ellis presided as the contest's
substitute announcer. Anna Sue Hickman graciously brought in and
set up her sound system to help Roland with his play-by-play.
Eleven carvers entered Sunday afternoon's contest and were given
a time limit of 1 hour plus a 10 minute break. Contestants included
(alphabetically) Chuck Bailey, Deb Bergum, Ol' Don Burgdorf, Kathi
Clark, Gary Freeman, Bruce Futterer, Wm. Early Gray, Jeffrey Higginson,
Timothy Higginson, Sandy Smith and Ed Zinger. The carvers were
allowed unlimited hand tools and were given a 2"x2"x6" chunk of
basswood (donated by Dale Heinecke) to carve a "masterpiece".
Randy Landen, Dale Heinecke and Rick Frels (substituting for Larry
Yudis) judged the results.
First, second and third place winners received a plaque from NAWC,
a "prize" of their choosing, a Woodcraft Shop gift certificate
plus a Heinecke Wood gift certificate. Bruce Futterer placed first;
Sandy Smith - second and Timothy Higginson - third. Special thanks
go to Larry and Carol Yudis for their generous gift certificate
donation and to Dale Heinecke for the "whittling" wood and the
gift certificates. Heartfelt thanks go to Len Dillon for putting
it all together and along with our thanks go our thoughts and
prayers for his speedy recovery.
Saturday evening's
banquet dinner/auction was held at the Baxter Inn. RIO entertained
approximately 80 diners with their "live" music. Everyone received
a first aid kit (with NAWC club advertising) and a ticket for
the door prize raffle that was held before the meal. An auction,
led by Ray Kropke, was conducted to generate funds for next year's
show. There were many wonderful items auctioned as well as many
very happy winning bidders with their prizes.
Sincere thanks
go to all participants and to the club members who graciously
volunteered their time to make it all work. Heartfelt appreciation
go to the vendors, businesses, club members, visiting carvers
and friends who donated money, merchandise and their time to help
make the show a success. Special thanks go to the "sign committee"
who trekked through high grasses and dodged rain to set up and
break down the club's wooden signs making sure that the public
knew when and where the show was to be held. Without all of their
generous help and support the show could not have been possible.
The Show Committee is already discussing plans for our 29th Annual
Show to be held May 3 & 4, 2008. See you there!
Next
Photos by Deb Bergum
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