One of the of best ways to share your experiences with and/or learn more about forests, trees and their wood from botanists, dendrologists, wood collectors, woodworkers, and other wood lovers, is to attend a local, regional, or international meeting (also called "woodfest") of the Society.
Members and guests come to hear or see programs about wood, talk about wood, view demonstrations on woodworking, tour interesting woodlands and/or wood-related operations, and choose from hundreds of wood specimens at the auction.
If a meeting in your area is not listed below, please volunteer to host one - you can learn the procedures from experienced hosts listed on this page. Meetings can be planned on a small scale. Even so, do not be surprised if members from other countries attend your meeting. IWCS members include botanists, dendrologists, wood technologists, wood collectors, wood workers, and people who just admire the beauty and versatility of wood. Everyone is welcome to join us!
August 27-31, 2008 INTERNATIONAL WOODFEST at Hocking College Campus, Nelsonville, OHIO
Wednesday is Check-In and open jam with The Pinter's. Bring your instruments and feel free to join in.
Thursday and Friday, there will be two sawmills running all day with custom cutting a variety of Ohio woods. Also, a Basket Weaving class will be offered on both days.
Thursday, there will be a fieldtrip to a local working sawmill. In the evening, The local bluegrass band "Home Remedy" will perform there original Ohio songs.
Friday, in the morning, The Hocking Valley Scenic Railway will offer a train ride from the college to Logan and back. In the afternoon, a fieldtrip to Birdsong Farm and green tree swamp. This swamp was created in 1840 when the Hocking Canal Co. dammed the area as part of the canal system. In the evening, an event called "Final Fridays" in Nelsonville where local artists market their works at the public square.
Saturday, will be the wood and craft auctions. Also, Robin's Crossing a historical village on the college grounds will be open for visiting. There are ten working cabins including a general store, and blacksmith shop.
Sign up sheet will be available at the welcome table.
Other activities are also available. In Logan, there is the Columbus Washboard Factory, one of the last companies in the U.S. that still manufactures wooden washboards. They are open for tours daily. Also in Logan, is Logan Clay, they manufacture red clay tile, pipe, and lawn ornaments. The surrounding area includes Wayne Forest and the Hocking Hills State Park System. Hikers would enjoy seeing Ash Cave, Cantwell Cliffs, Cedar Falls and the other natural wonders. All areas are handicap accessible.
For additional event information contact: Mark Johnson, 2699 Echert Road, S.E., Lancaster, OH 43130 or call 1-740-689-0722.
Tuesday, June 16 through Saturday, June 20, 2009 in the Netherlands.
The meeting will take place in the Netherlands at a site yet to be announced. A pre-meeting tour (focusing on dendrology and Botany) as well as a post-meeting tour (focusing on cultural aspects) is foreseen. The exact location is as yet unknown, however public transport in the Netherlands is excellent and since distances are short, transport will not be a problem.
As far as maps are concerned, you could surf to Wikipedia and check out Netherlands which will; include several small maps. Click on one and a larger version will pop up. All cities and major towns in our country are shown. To give you an idea of how small our country really is -- you can drive from Groningen in the north to Maastricht in the south in some 4 hours, given a speed of 75 miles per hour (the official limit!) and no traffic jams at all (well -- that would be on a Sunday morning). We do have a good public transport system that's reasonably efficient and not very expensive. By rail you'd take about 4 hours as well to cover this distance. Good road maps are available everywhere and all railway stations feature maps of the railroad system -- There's just the one railway company that you'd normally be dealing with, and there are some local, private lines.
Further information on location and program will be forthcoming. If you should have any suggestions or wishes, please inform us at:
Nelis Mourik, email: nelismourik@hetnet.nl
Willem Hurkmans, email: w.hurkmans@home.nl
IWCS Events by Countries with Active Chapters
Australia
October 11-15, 2008 in Australia.
Australasian Annual Meeting "Botanica—Adelaide" Belair, South Australia
Saturday afternoon registration and informal chats. Sunday at the Highfields Wood Show and evening Goolwa and Victor Harbour. Tuesday Adelaide Botanic Gardens, etc. Wednesday small workshops and auction.
Contact Ron and Helen Allen: (08) 826 7414
Canada
United Kingdom
Western Europe
United States
Great Lakes Region
Northeast Region
May 1-3, 2009 Regional Spring Woodfest in Syracuse, N.Y
(Tentative Schedule)
Northwest Region
Central Region
Southeast Region
Southwest Region
Other Events of Interest
Statement on IWCS Liability for members traveling to Society activities
(As found in the December 2003 issue of World of Wood )
The following, written by an attorney, and reviewed in 1998 by the Board of Trustees, has been edited so the information applies to all meetings, wood collecting trips, tours, and other IWCS activities, domestic and international.
"The International Wood Collectors Society has limited resources and cannot afford a liability insurance policy. Therefore, anyone who attends an IWCS meeting, and/or any pre-meeting and post-meeting activities, by attending such events and activities hereby agrees to the following: "
"1) Travel has risk and those who attend meetings and any related activities assume any and all risks involved, including, without limitation, the risk of bodily injury, death and/or property damage; and 2) To release the IWCS and its officers, trustees, employees, and agents, including the meeting hosts, trip coordinators, and leaders from, and agree not to sue any or all of them on account of or in connection with any claims, causes of action, injuries, damages, costs or expenses arising out of attending the meeting and any related activities, whether or not caused by the negligence or other fault of the IWCS."
