|
One of the missions of the Woodworkers of Central New York is to contribute to the community in which we live, practice our craft, and enjoy. Supporting the men and women who protect us through their service in the United States Military is one of our worthy projects. How do we do it? By participating in the annual Turn for Troops program sponsored by Woodcraft.
There is no Woodcraft store in Syracuse so individual members turn groups of pens in their shops. Sometimes the club sponsors a weekend workshop for members to turn their pens in a group setting. Woodcraft generously donates the components and for some time also the wood. The club now provides members with blanks. Woodcraft sends materials to our club coordinators, Larry Prunotto and Ted Kleege. Larry & Ted package and distribute the materials for members spread out throughout Central New York and then receive the complete pens for repackaging and shipping to Woodcraft. Some members create and donate pens from kits and wood they own. Participation in this program by our members over the years has grown since we started in 2014 donating 170 completed pens. Even during Covid, members generated over 300 pens each year. In 2021, we allocated 10 of the pen kits provided by Woodcraft to a new turning program at the local veterans-support organization called Clear Path for Veterans. The pens were turned and kept by the veterans themselves as a direct donation. In 2022, the club received 350 kits to support the 2022 effort produced our largest contribution to date - 417 pens! This brought our 9-year contribution to 2500 pens. Our donation for 2023 was 414 pens with 40 of those pens going directly to Kuwait based on the letter right that was received before we shipped our completed pens to Woodcraft. For 2024, our members started early and expect to contribute over 500 pens this year. Woodcraft donated 414 component kits and the club purchased another 60 kits with a $100 donation by a member, a former service member himself. One member started in February, turning pens during the NYS Farm Show and during MakerFaire 2024. Another member completed 100 pens by the end of May. Below are photos of pens generated by members for the 2024 effort. As new photos arrive, they will be added to this page. Photos of pens created since 2018 can be found by clicking each year's link: 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018
** Forty (40) pens out of the 414 were shipped directly to Kuwait for direct distribution to colleagues of a solider who received a pen previously.
* Ten (10) of our pens allocated for 2021 were donated to a turning program at Clear Path for Veterans where the veterans themselves turned the pens and then kept the pens rather than shipping back to Woodcraft. Also, two pens "blew out" during production. |
Thanks to Woodcraft for their photos used to enhance this webpage
I was passed one of your hand-crafted pens on my recent deployment in Kuwait and was very delighted. I enjoy crafting many of my own things by hand and this pen has been one of my favorite items to have received on a deployment. Along with the pen I received a business card with these to emails and I wanted to first send a heart felt thank you to whom crafted the pen and ensure you know that your work is greatly enjoyed. I also would like to see how I could go about ordering a few more for my Soldiers currently here that I work with regularly. Can you please provide me the cost and estimated time it may take to ship? I would only need 40 pens to provide my section with one each. Please do not worry if this is not something you can do, I just felt it was worth asking and again thank you for what you did send, I will enjoy it as it reminds me of my shop and hand crafted projects.
Another Email Received by Ted from a gentleman name Zach:
I am a Sgt in the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Liberty. I received one of your handcrafted pens this morning. It’s very nice and it’s a fantastic addition to my office space. Thank you for your past service and what you do. |
How Is A Pen Created?
Pen kits and wood are secured.
|
Wood blanks are cut to size based on the tubes in the kit.
|
Ends of blanks are marked to insure wood grains match.
|
Blanks are drilled to size based on the tubes. Tubes are then glued into each blank.
|
Prepared blanks are mounted onto mandrel and turned.
|
Pen is assembled using components in the kit.
|
Pens Turned by Members in 2024
Jim Kent - 100 Pens
Robert Love - 10 Pens of Various Woods
|
Robert Love - 10 Pens of Lyptus with Pink Ivory Bands
|
Mike Vecellio - 10 Pens with Segmented Tops
|
Mike's full complement of 20 pens
|
Arlene Schlueter - Turning Pens During the NYS Farm Show
|
Arlene Schlueter - First Group
|
Arlene Schlueter - Second Group
|
Kenn Pickard - 20 Pens
|
Kerry Kopkey - 10 pens
|
Bruce Meissner - 10 Pens - Honey Locust
|
Gregg Shinneman - 10 Pens Spalted ?
|
Ted Kleege - 30 Pens
|
Jim Ruddock - 20 Pens
|
Rick Kiehl - 10 Pens
|
Jeffrey Davis - 10 Pens
|
Doug North - 10 Pens
|
Larry Prunotto - 14 Pens
|
Ray Smith - 12 Pens Plus 3 Right
|
|
Mark Lockwood - 10 Pens
|
Rod Castle - 10 Pens
|
Gary Morison - 20 Pens
|
Turned During the Manlius HIstorical Society Event
Effort Led by Charlie LaPrease - Other Turners inc Kaleb Hancock, Chris Limoncelli, Rick Kiehl, Mick Van Vranken, and Ted Kleege
|
Charlie LaPrease - Two That Blew-Out During Manlius Event
|
Bob Randall - 10 Pens
Mark Anastas - 10 Pens
Bob Santore - 10 Pens
|
Art Giverson - 50 Pens
Bruce Meissner - Second Set of 10 Pens
|