Elections for two positions will take place this year: President Elect and Vice President. Each position has two society members who are interested in taking on the job in support of the IWCS and its members. The winners will assume the position effective 1 October. Mail in ballots will be in a forthcoming issue of the World of Wood (WoW) and available for download and email submission on this page for members who are Online Only members.
The two candidates for Vice President are Stan Joehlin & Violet Oman:
Stan Joehlin
I was raised on a grain farm in northwest Ohio, outside Toledo in Ottawa County. I spent a lot of my grade and high school years working on the farm and in my father’s, drainage contracting business. We still live on our family homestead farm which I still manage. It has been in the family since March 14, 1889.
I studied engineering at Ohio State where I received my Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in 1960. After four years in the family business, I entered the glass tempering machinery business in 1964, spent 25 years at it full time, and now 33 years as a part time consultant to the industry providing training and technical problem solving.
I joined IWCS many years ago, my number is 3233L, when I learned about the organization from a stop at a craft shop in New Brunswick, Canada. After we went on the IWCS Peru trip organized by Lloyd and Jean Sumner, I was inactive for a number of years as my wife’s health declined. After her death, now twelve years ago, and finding the blessing of a second good woman in my life, Sharon, I’ve again been attending meetings whenever our schedule allows.
I am about two thirds of the way through my first term as your Vice President and enjoy the interaction with the other board members and welcoming all the new members that have joined during my term as your VP.
My woodworking projects have been mainly in the furniture class and too big to bring for display at the meetings. Most of my recent shop projects are things requested by my grandchildren or great grandchildren. These include simple bird houses and feeders, baby cradles, rocking horses, jewelry boxes, sewing machine cabinets, and anything the grandchildren or great grandchildren want help with.
Between my committee work with a local hospital foundation and an advisory committee at the engineering department at OSU where I graduated, I have almost completed an elaborate tool chest which Sharon says she would like in the house instead of my workshop, we will see..
The projects in our home include two display cabinets for our glass collection, a table that is a reproduction of a 17th century French design, and the largest project I have and probably will ever build, a 16-foot-long entertainment center with display shelves and both shelf and drawer storage. I often say; “What comes out of my shop has more to do with my patience and perseverance than my knowledge and skill.”
Keep making wood chips and sawdust!
Violet Oman
Violet Oman #10063 Central Region Trustee 2018 – 2024I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, and lived in Seattle, Washington most of my life. Moved to St Louis, Missouri in 2004 and now split my time between Kansas City and St Louis. With 4 children, I spent years keeping my family busy. It was baseball, basketball, soccer, dance, swimming, water polo, sailing, surfing, waterskiing, kayaking, dirt bike riding, marching band etc., etc. Then off to college they went. I look back now and wonder how I got everything done. One thing for sure, it’s a young person’s game.
Somewhere down the line, I was poking around on the internet and found the St Louis Woodworkers Guild. I could actually join the guild, and maybe it’s time to do something with all of the unique pieces of wood I had been randomly collecting throughout the years. We joined in 2016 and within a couple of months there was a Quinn Saw shop tour. W.D. Quinn Saw Co. in St Louis is one of the oldest saw blade sharpening companies in the country. They are a 5th generation family owned and operated business. I love Quinn Saw. At the end of the tour that Saturday July 30th, lunch was being served, we decided to sit next to a couple of interesting looking guild members. Both IWCS members Denny Krupinski#9623 and Cecil Robertson #8806 (may Cecil rest in peace). By the time lunch was over, they had talked us into joining them at the next local IWCS meeting, and lured us in with the promise of food along with what I now call “spirited wood auction”. Hook, line and sinker, I have never looked back. I have always appreciated what those two “interesting” guys have done for us, and for the club. Once we joined, it was clear the members we had met in the St Louis area were all dedicated members of the society. It didn’t take long to get involved. We attended the 2017 IWCS Southeast Regional Woodfest at Lake Yale Baptist Conference Center in Eustis, Florida then came back in 2018, 2019 & 2023 and ran a few simple but fun workshops. We also attended the 2018 IWCS Annual General Meeting in St Charles, Missouri where we held a cutting board workshop. We attended Shipshewana, Indiana in 2019, attended the 75th Jubilee in La Grange, Texas in 2022, and Shocco Springs, Alabama in 2023.
October of 2018 I was asked to serve as Central Region Trustee, election by acclamation since which I have served. Our St Louis area members have always been active. We’ve held various meetings throughout the years in St Louis, one-year in Kansas City and finally got back to participating in The Woodworking Shows this year with Kansas City scheduled in March2024. These shows are an opportunity to introduce the IWCS and recruit new members.
My goal has been to try and be a responsible and effective trustee for the Central Region with the IWCS Roles and Responsibilities as my guideline. I sometimes feel like the society has given me more than I have given back, but I keep trying. I look to the senior members for direction and appreciate the knowledge and expertise they all bring to the table. The friendships made through IWCS, are priceless.
Since I joined the society in 2016, I have the IWCS to thank for my wood collection increasing significantly… I’m still having fun; I still look forward to that beat up piece of wood I find at the bottom of the barrel that blows me away once it’s been through the jointer. My only wish is that I started this interest in wood a bit earlier in life.
When I’m not thinking about the IWCS, I’m traveling, taking photos, making soap, sewing, knitting, pottery, woodworking, turning, riding modern and vintage scooters to the next rally but always first on my list is family, it’s my grandbabies I look forward to spending my time with.