Lake Superior Woodturners
MEETING DETAILS
Date SATURDAY, May 9, 2026
Time 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
SHOP LOCATION: THE DORFMAN CO. BUILDING
1314 OGDEN AVE, SUPERIOR, WI 54880
AGENDA
When you get to the meeting, please sign in so we know who is attending, and wear a name badge to help those who are not familiar with who we are put names to our faces.
Half-hour before the meeting: Meeting set-up (Chairs & Lathe) plus coffee & chatter!
9:00 CALL TO ORDER
HOST
TREATS: Gary
PRESIDENT REPORT – Susan J Van Loon Runnoe
TREASURE REPORT – Paul Howard: Current balance, Income and Expenses
OLD BUSINESS:
Tom Lohman Segmented Workshop held last month (April 12,13 & 14th 2026)
- Elizabeth Weber Demonstration and Workshops – June 2026. Workshops are filling up. Let us know if you are interested.
- Mentoring: Whether you are interested in finding a mentor to help you with a particular woodturning skill, or if you are experienced and wouldn’t mind sharing your skills with others, we want to know. We are trying to match individuals to expand our talents!
- Kerry Sopoli: Bowling Pin Challenge
- Wig Stands—always looking for more donations
- LSW web page update – “Future Programs” button
- LSW Wish List/Budget Request update
NEW BUSINESS:
- Mentoring/ Open Turning-Dates – you must email or register on the sign-up sheet as all open turning is dependent on how many participants are coming. Please let us know if you have something specific you want to work on, so if you need mentoring help we can try to have the right people available to help youl. Next open turning date is Saturday, March 21.
Cost is free for members. Non-member cost is $10.
- Elections –
Three board positions will be open this year. Board members who have completed their terms include Susan Van Loon Runnoe, Bonnie McDermid, and Paul Howard.
May is the month when we hold elections. Below is a list of our current LSW Board Members. This year completing their two-year terms are Susan Van Loon Runnoe, Paul Howard, and Bonnie McDermid. Please thank these members for their service to the club.
Board members are elected for a two-year term, which begins after the May Member meeting and will serve on the Board until the board elections in May 2028. Duties include monthly Board meetings where we discuss club finances, programming, demonstrations, workshops, club membership, issues, and any future happenings of the Lake Superior Woodturners (and more!). It is a great experience and a great way to impact the direction of our club. We’ve often been asked what the requirements are to be a board member. Our response would include the following: Someone who…
- Is an active and enthusiastic member of LSW with a passion for woodturning and for sharing woodturning with others.
- Can attend [most] Monthly Board Meetings – meetings are typically conducted over video conferencing (Zoom) on the third or fourth Monday of the month – the time and day of the month may change depending on Board Member availability.
- Is Willing to work as a team to help brainstorm, research, or investigate new ideas,
- Has a desire to help recruit new members to LSW.
- Shows a commitment to help communicate to members and non-members what our club is doing and where we are headed.
The rules of nomination are simple: feel free to nominate yourself or other LSW member(s) interested in serving on the board (if nominating someone other than yourself, please make sure they are willing and know what you are nominating them for).
Nominees as of today:
Susan J Van Loon Runnoe
I am interested in running for the Lake Superior Woodturners Board of Directors.
I have been turning for about 8 years and might possibly perhaps be ready to say I’m not a total beginner.
I feel strongly that this club is a vital resource for turners of all levels and we need to find ways to promote ourselves. I want to work to expand membership and offerings which will grow and improve our club. I want to work to offer more turning options at our club and offer workshops that will interest and attract new members.
I am passionate about learning new things and love that there are so many talented members willing to mentor fellow turners. I am excited to be in this new shop and I look forward to seeing what changes we will make in the next few years as we grow and expand what we have to offer.
Bonnie McDermid
My first term on the Board of Lake Superior Woodturners has absolutely flow by. Our new location has opened up many opportunities to expand the education we offer to our members, other crafters, and new turners. Most recently, I’ve been working on our marketing and outreach, plus developing consistent processes for event planning, budgeting, and registration. I’d very much appreciate having another term to finish those tasks and support our club in any other way I can. Thank you!
Note: Paul Howard has decided to not run for the third position on the board due to his personal life all of a sudden becoming very busy. We appreciate everything Paul has done for the Lake Superior Woodturners over the years, his willingness to serve on the board for multiple terms, his work as treasurer for as long as I can remember, and the woodturning instruction and advice he has given has been very much appreciated. He deserves a huge Thank You for the work he has done.
This leaves us with one more position to fill. If you are interested, or if you know of someone who might be interested please let us know. Nominations for the board positions and a vote for the three openings will be held at the meeting on Saturday. If you have any questions about the board position please contact a current board member or send an email Doug at dorun920@yahoo.com.
SHOW & TELL – As always, we love to see what you’ve been turning, so bring in your turnings and show what you have been up to. When you show your pieces you can ask for critiques of your work, or you can simply show your turnings. We can discuss turning ‘challenges’, talk about best practices, and chat about perplexing pieces of wood you would like suggestions on how to turn or what to turn it into. We would like to have members show one of their turnings and once everyone has a chance, if time permits additional items can be shown.
SAFETY MINUTE – Open Discussion – Best practices, what to do and what not to do.
RAFFLE: If you have an item to donate for the raffle, whether it’s a woodturning book, a piece of wood, a pen or bowl blank, a tool you don’t use, or maybe a turning you have done, we would sincerely appreciate the donation. Depending upon the quantity of donations received your item may be saved for a future month’s raffle.
PROGRAM
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Ray started turning about seven years ago shortly after retiring. From the beginning Ray loved to turn plates and platters, and after becoming somewhat efficient at it he began looking for ways to embellish those platters. He used dyes, paints and pyrography. Then he read an article in the “The American Woodturners” titled “Basket Illusion -Demystified-“ by Harvey Meyer and thought, what the heck let’s give it a try. HOOKED!
Ray will share resources available to get started. The different tools needed and the sequence in which they are used. He will demonstrate the use of beading tools, indexing wheel and pyrography equipment. Discuss the best wood to use and coloring pens that have worked best for him. Finishing up with a short discussion on finishes and what to do in those “OH SH*T” moments.
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Other Items:
The current Board of Directors:
- President Susan Van Loon Runnoe
- Vice President Bill Penning
- Secretary Doug Runnoe
- Treasurer Paul Howard
- Program Director – John Skarja
- Bonnie McDermid
- Greg Whitaker
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