My local woodturning club (Mackay Australia) has held meetings on a
Wednesday night for a year or so now. A couple of experienced turners and
half a dozen beginners. At the moment we pay membership fees and a $2 door
fee. (Club is open 2nd 4th Sundays with $2 door fee)
The powers that be in the club want to treble the door fees on a Wednesday
to try and make some money.
There was a heated meeting today but nothing was resolved. We are in need of
some suggestions.
What times are your clubs open and what, if any, door fees then apply? Do
you differentiate between people there to turn and people there to teach?
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Regards
Mick

Hi Michael

We have something like 60 or 70 members, a couple make a living turning
and then we have a mix of experienced, and less so, also quite a few
beginners.
We had a $30.- a year membership fee, but with approval of all have
increased it to $50.-, we do need some better sound and video equipment
and so we will now be able to purchase it, after that we will decide to
go back to the $30.- fee or set our sight on some other needed equipment.
We also have a raffle for bowl blanks, pen blanks, turning wood and
tools and stuff that the members donate, makes for a nice exchange and a
overall good feeling and camaraderie.
We also have several members that will take newcomers under there wings
as well as those that like to get some specialized experience, from
spindle to hollow turning or bowl coring etc.
Visitors are welcome and we encourage repeat visitors to become members.
We also have challenges and demonstrations by members or visiting wood
turners.
We have one meeting per month and some special days like BBQ every year.

Have fun and take care
Leo Van Der Loo

Michael Lehmann wrote:

My local woodturning club (Mackay Australia) has held meetings on a
Wednesday night for a year or so now. A couple of experienced turners and
half a dozen beginners. At the moment we pay membership fees and a $2 door
fee. (Club is open 2nd 4th Sundays with $2 door fee)
The powers that be in the club want to treble the door fees on a Wednesday
to try and make some money.
There was a heated meeting today but nothing was resolved. We are in need of
some suggestions.
What times are your clubs open and what, if any, door fees then apply? Do
you differentiate between people there to turn and people there to teach?
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Regards
Mick

Hei Mick,
I'm a member of Liddlelow here in Perth.
We're open 1 evening, 1 morning and 1 afternoon a week and facilities
include large and small bandsaw, about 14 assorted lathes, sharpening
facilities and assorted chucks and tools.
We pay $50 a year plus a $4 door fee per session and the club also
sells drinks, sandpaper and other supplies to help with finances.

I'm not sure if there is any differentiation tween turners and
teachers.
I personally think up to $5 a week on top of the annual fees is
reasonable, although I think your club should maybe do the increase in
stages.

You may like to post this on the ebeaut forum since there's a lot more
Aussies there.
Cheers
Paul


On Sun, 13 Feb 2005 14:18:26 +1000, "Michael Lehmann"
wrote:

My local woodturning club (Mackay Australia) has held meetings on a
Wednesday night for a year or so now. A couple of experienced turners and
half a dozen beginners. At the moment we pay membership fees and a $2 door
fee. (Club is open 2nd 4th Sundays with $2 door fee)
The powers that be in the club want to treble the door fees on a Wednesday
to try and make some money.
There was a heated meeting today but nothing was resolved. We are in need of
some suggestions.
What times are your clubs open and what, if any, door fees then apply? Do
you differentiate between people there to turn and people there to teach?
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Regards
Mick




Unless otherwise stated all references to location refer to Western Australia

In article ,
Leo Van Der Loo wrote:

We have something like 60 or 70 members, a couple make a living turning
and then we have a mix of experienced, and less so, also quite a few
beginners.
We had a $30.- a year membership fee, but with approval of all have
increased it to $50.-, we do need some better sound and video equipment
and so we will now be able to purchase it, after that we will decide to
go back to the $30.- fee or set our sight on some other needed equipment.
We also have a raffle for bowl blanks, pen blanks, turning wood and
tools and stuff that the members donate, makes for a nice exchange and a
overall good feeling and camaraderie.
We also have several members that will take newcomers under there wings
as well as those that like to get some specialized experience, from
spindle to hollow turning or bowl coring etc.
Visitors are welcome and we encourage repeat visitors to become members.
We also have challenges and demonstrations by members or visiting wood
turners.
We have one meeting per month and some special days like BBQ every year.

My primary chapter has a yearly $35 dues. Your group, Leo, sounds about
like ours in number and makeup. One thing that really seems to add to
the bank is the yearly auction. Usually in August, most of the members
bring in wood and or tool donations for the auction. It is generally
fine wood that is just taking up too much space or that the member
wishes to share - I usually try to donate wood that is a little unusual,
like filbert or magnolia. Plum is pretty popular and usually gets a high
bid. This year we combined our auction with our BBQ; I think that was
very popular and we'll likely do that again.

This past year we hosted Jean F. Escoulen as a demonstrator and workshop
instructor. He turned a 24" trembler, signed it and gave it to the club.
A base was turned for it, a scrap piece of acrylic cylinder was trimmed
to size and fit into a mortise in the base to protect the trember and a
finial was added to the top of the cylinder. This was added to the
auction and went for something on the order of $200.

We also have a monthly raffle of donated items and sell CA glue, sanding
disks, and a "wood of the month." Wood of the month is purchased in bulk
at a discount at one of the wood suppliers. It's then cut to different
sizes if needed and marked up to something reasonable but still
inexpensive compared to retail outlets. It's also an unusual wood that
most folks might not turn regularly and that seems to be part of the
interest in buying it. What ever doesn't sell this month is marked a
little lower next month and may end up in the auction if it's still
around by then.

We don't have any kind of door fee and our lathe and facility isn't
available to members other than on meeting nights or during the couple
teaching workshops throughout the year.

--
"Sure we'll have fascism in America, but it'll come disguised
as 100% Americanism." -- Huey P. Long

"Michael Lehmann" wrote in message
...
My local woodturning club (Mackay Australia) has held meetings on a
Wednesday night for a year or so now. A couple of experienced turners and
half a dozen beginners. At the moment we pay membership fees and a $2
door
fee. (Club is open 2nd 4th Sundays with $2 door fee)
The powers that be in the club want to treble the door fees on a Wednesday
to try and make some money.
There was a heated meeting today but nothing was resolved. We are in need
of
some suggestions.
What times are your clubs open and what, if any, door fees then apply? Do
you differentiate between people there to turn and people there to teach?
Any suggestions will be appreciated.
Regards
Mick

Mick, we have 50 members who pay $25 US per year. Out other major source
of revenue is a monthly raffle, during our normal meeting. We have 4 or
more pieces that were turned by the members and put into the raffle, the
name of which is "The Bring Back Raffle". A chance is $1, and if you win
one of the pieces, you are obligated to bring back a piece next meeting,
hence the name. Altho we started with just 2 or 3 pieces, now we are up to
about 8-10 pieces per raffle, which really increases the raffle activity.
We have 100 marked 'chips', and occasionally run out, so we take in nearly
$100 each meeting.

Each member who 'brung back' a turning, gets to talk about it, if desired.

Works for us!!

Regards,
James Johnson
Hill Country Turners,
Kerrville, TX USA