(Band playing intro) . . . Fort Worth Report!

[Jerry Stringer]

I'm whupped!

I finally got to sleep at 3 am to get back up at 7 to do the final prep for the Turn-A-Thon at the Fort Worth Woodcraft.

Brag all you want, but there are no finer folks than Ray, Judy, Billy, Chris, Mark, and the rest of the gang at that store. They really know how to throw a party!

Ray had his kilt on - we still don't know what's under it and not sure I WANT to know! There were red, white, and blue balloons everywhere. As you walked in the front door, you were met with a huge "Freedom Pens" cake and Freedom Pens signs everywhere!! We even had live music! Ray and another guy (I apologize for not getting the name) played country music on a guitar and a fiddle (that's a country violin for you folks up north!).

Our large banner was hanging over the entrance to the classroom/work area where there were nine lathes ready to go.

I really didn't know what to expect for today but it was fantastic! There were wall to wall people most of the day - first time turners, veteran turners, guys, gals, young, old, sane, and insane. I met Martin Shupe who could only stay a little while . . . David Rose who worked his tail off all day making pens and even took more home to do! Don Ward from the Penmakers Guild was there as well. As well as many more great people that I can't remember right now because my brain is fried! If I missed anybody here please don't be offended.

I've got tons of photos, including a GREAT one of David Rose and Martin's son, Ethan, with his first pen. A guy from Benbrook won the lathe (I can't recall his name right now but I'll post it later).

The camaraderie was wonderful. Everyone stayed busy the whole time. A HUGE thank you to David Thomas. The blanks I took that were precut with the tubes glued in did not last long! David stepped in without being asked and started cutting blanks, drilling them, gluing tubes, milling the ends, and feeding the ready-to-turn blanks to turners all day! I don't think he ever got on a lathe but he SAVED the day with the work he did. THANK YOU again!

Two television stations had committed to come by and neither showed up. BUT . . . another station , Channel 4 (FOX) did show and took a lot of video. I saw the short story they did on the news tonight and, while I was glad they showed, I think it was a little lacking. They told what we were doing, but never mentioned that we were at Woodcraft and never mentioned the Freedom Pens website. Anyone who saw the story and wants to help has no idea how to contact us.

I have a LOT of photos that I will post to a special web page in the next couple of days. Then if Keith will just put a link on the FPP site to the photo page it will save him a lot of work.

Ray MacDonald (store manager) was thrilled to help out. The extra traffic was good for business and he wants to do another one this summer. Ray has a lot of class - he told me after the event that even if today's Turn-A-Thon didn't bring in even one extra dollar to the store, it was all worth it just to help the morale of our troops. He's a great guy!

For an initial report I guess that's about it . . .

NOT!!!!

At the end of the day when all of the sawdust had settled, we counted a pile of 110 PENS either made or sponsored today!!!!! In Texas, we do it up BIG!

Have a great day . . . I'm gonna go crash!

Jerry

[Art Hendrix]

At the end of the day when all of the sawdust had settled, we counted a pile of 110 PENS either made or sponsored today!!!!! In Texas, we do it up BIG!

Jerry

Way to go, Jerry! You've made all of Texas proud.

Art Hendrix in Commerce, Texas

[Bobby McCarley]

Way to go Jerry, sounds like like y'all had a blast and the fruit of all the hard work is in the pens made for the troops. It sure would be nice if we had a Woodcraft store here in Louisiana. The nearest store to me is in Houston. Keep up the great work and again, congratulations on the success of the turn-a-thon.

Bobby McCarley

[Dick Parr]

Congradulations Jerry, job well done!

[Rex Davis]

Sounds GREAT Jerry.
Wish I could have been there.

Rex at Gardendale TX

[Dennis Peacock]

Way to GO JERRY!!!! Your efforts and work are greatly appreciated and it does not go unnoticed. Thank you.!!!!!

[Julie Wright]

Congratulations Jerry!!! Great Work..

The troops will really love all the pens that the TurnAThons are pumping out !!!!

[John Miliunas]

That's mighty impressive, Jerry! Lot's of hard work, I'm sure, but in the end, all involved got to go home to a nice, comfy bed in their own homes. I always think that when I'm turning the FP pens. Sure, I could be doing something equally as productive, but nothing as rewarding or satisfying. Way to go for all those involved in your event!

[RL Johnson]

Way to go Jerry.
I managed to get the Woodcraft store, even though it was raining. Had a wonderful time and did manage to turn four pens. I brought three already glued up and made one there that my sister purchased for the troops.
Also managed to spend more money than I had planned but it always seems to work that way when I go to the wood store .
I saw alot of first time turners and I am sure it sparked alot of interest in turning. Too bad they didn't draw my name for the Delta lathe .
Looking forward to participating again.

[Ken Salisbury]

WAY TO GO TEXAS ! ! ! ! ! ! !

[Daniel Yourdon]

Jerry,
You do Texas, Sawmill Creek, adn turners/woodworkers, everywhere proud. My Hats off to you for the effort you have gone to. the real impact for the troops will never really be know given these events are attracting new penturners that otherwise would have never put a gouge to wood. A well deserved rest to you.

[Joseph Green]

Jerry,
You did a great job in helping to put this on. Wish I could have stayed at the store longer.

Joe

[Matt Bridges]

That is awesome Jerry! You did Texas and SMC proud!

Matt

[Martin Shupe]

Jerry, thank you for an excellent event! Well planned and executed.

David, thank you for teaching my son to turn a pen. He is hooked, and now I'll need to dust off the lathe and learn how to use it. Thanks for sending the pic, too. It turned out great.

Ray at Woodcraft, thank you for your support of the FFP. Without your sponsorship, the turn-a-thon could not have happened.

Next time I'll try to just bring my son and stay most of the day. I could tell I was missing out on some camaraderie because I had to leave early.

[Aaron Koehl]

Jerry,

Fantastic!!

_Aaron_