Message from the President
Happy New Year! I wish everyone great prosperity and joy in 2024. I hope you all had an enjoyable holiday season. While we took December off to share with family, enjoy friends and pay attention to the things that mattered most, some of our members were busy tending to some volunteer opportunities as you may read about in our newsletter and “special editions”.
As always in January we held club officer elections during our January meeting and all officers with the exception of the Vice President will be continuing in 2024. Rick DuVall decided to step aside to allow another the opportunity to lead. I’d like to thank Rick for his diligent efforts supporting the Inland Woodworker’s association. When you run into Rick, please convey your thanks. Another Rick, Rick Reimer was selected to take on the roll. Please welcome Rick and offer your support whenever you can.
One of the first volunteer opportunities for 2024 is the quickly approaching Skills USA Woodworking Competitions. The Regional Competitions are taking place online over Zoom Saturday, Feb 3rd, and April 5th & 6th for the in-person State Competition, which will be held at Chaffey High School, 1245 N Euclid Ave, Ontario, CA 91762. We need judges & proctors for the State Competition so if you would like to join us for this rewarding opportunity. I highly encourage you to reach out to Rick Reimer, Mike Miller, Kenneth Thomas, or myself to throw your name in the hat. Thank you.
I’m excited to announce that at our next woodworking meeting we will have a special guest, Mr. Ben Angerer from Shaper Origin to demonstrate their hand-held CNC Router. I think you’ll agree it’s a fun and useful tool for any woodworking shop. Please join us February 13th.
I look forward to all our chances to get together in 2024 and wish all best to you all.
Treasurer’s Report
Club treasurer Phyllis Minert presented the treasurer’s report. All transactions have been reconciled.Club Business
501(c)3 update – the accountant assigned to complete our application recently left the firm; they are working on reassigning a new person to finish our application.
Elections
Elections for the 2024 officers were conducted; congratulations to the 2024 officers:
President: Mike Trejo
Vice-President: Rick Reimer
Secretary: Michael Miller
Treasurer: Phyllis Minert
Float Building
The Jurupa Valley Adopt-a-Family has a float that they present during the Veteran’s Day parade. The float is in disrepair; the IW club has expressed interest in upgrading the float, or possibly building a new one. The float is used to collect toys for the holiday toy drive. Jurupa Valley hosts 5 events where the float would be used. The Jurupa Valley Cultural Center might have an available canopy for storing the float.
Upcoming Events
Shaper Tool has offered to give a demo of their handheld CNC router; stay tuned for an announcement of the date.
SkillsUSA Regional Competition will be held on Saturday, February 3, 2024. Judging will be done online for this event. Volunteer judges and proctors are still needed. If you are interested, please contact Mike Trejo.
New Members
Bill Nevins is a contractor who received his license in 1976. His dad had a cabinet shop, which led to his interest in construction. He is currently retired and looking forward to volunteering for upcoming events.
Mike Sepulveda got into woodworking during the Covid pandemic. He has been making river tables with wood and epoxy as well as charcuterie and cutting boards. Mike has woodworking tools (e.g., table saw) as well as a laser engraver.
Mario Alvarez is a past member on IW. He took a short hiatus during the Covid pandemic and is ready to return to the club. Mario has been a woodworker for more than 30 years; he was one of the original members of the Inland Woodworkers. Welcome back.
Show & Tell
RJ Monsma made a sign for his local theater. A theater critic judged the sign and found it to be an accurate facsimile of the original. A theater company from Switzerland has reached out to RJ to make them a sign.
Rick DuVall made a Welcome sign using his new CNC router.
Mike Sepulveda brought in several of his cutting boards, including his popular “drunken” cutting board. He also presented some of his laser-engraved cutting boards.
Mike has been using the Juice Groove Routing Jig from Rockler, and recommends this product:
https://www.rockler.com/rockler-cutting-board-juice-groove-routing-jig-bdl
Mario Alvarez shared some of his recently engraved name plates. He has also been working on engraving leather name bands. Mario does the engraving by hand, which adds a custom look to each item.
