A Brief History of the Woodworkers’ Club of Houston
Houston is a great city and deserves a great woodworking club. But how would you set about starting a club? It could be intimidating contacting other woodworkers. They may know more about woodworking than you or worse yet they may know much less. Could you meet someone with which to share a place to work or just share each others techniques? Would you want to share your tools or would others mind sharing their tools with you? Could you share materials with someone else or share in the bulk purchase of tools or lumber? What would be the point of starting a club? Will other potential members have the same interests as you? Will attending club meetings be worthwhile? Well it turns out that in 1983 these questions and many others began to be ironed out by the founding of the Woodworkers’ Club of Houston.
The Club was founded in 1983 by Bill Beggs, a hobbyist from northwest Houston. Bill had recently purchased a ShopSmith combination woodworking machine. A ShopSmith is a lathe based machine that uses a single motor to perform lathe, table saw, and drill press functions. The complexity of this machine along with its various attachments drove Bill to seek other ShopSmith owners for advice and instruction. Bill made a phone call to the ShopSmith store, now WoodCraft, on the Northwest Freeway that yielded the seven founding members. From the beginning the Club members voted on meeting the second Saturday of each month and early on they established a Board that would meet on weekday evenings.
The very first Club meeting was at Bill Beggs’ house. Subsequent Club meetings were held in member’s homes and garages. The Club had several sponsors such as Houston Hardwoods, now Clark’s Hardwood Lumber, in the Heights, who would host club meetings. It was the acting President’s responsibility to find a location, develop a program and start making calls to a phone call tree that had been established. Since the Club was developed prior to widespread commercial access to the Internet, the Club was a valuable resource for members to pass on and trade equipment vendor and lumber supplier information. Michael Chandlers Woodworking on Millwee was another sponsor. Gibbs Hardware on Brittmore was also a sponsor as was Pasadena Industrial Supply. (here I’m not sure whether meetings were held at Gibbs or if we went to field trips there and it belongs in the next paragraph and I don’t have much to say about Gibbs?) The Club also met intermittently at the wood technology building of the University of Houston hosted by Dr. Faulkner. An early board member and President, Steve Proctor was able to gain access to the training room of Way Engineering in the Bellaire area. The Club had grown rapidly and with 120 plus members it was becoming difficult to accommodate with some meetings being standing room only. One member, Don Richardson, was also a member of a local bird watchers club. That club would meet at the Bayland Community Center and it was that connection which brought the Club to it’s now longstanding home. The Club also withstood a major renovation of the Bayland Community Center.
Field trips were an activity that the Club organized in its early days. These included trips to the VisserRoland Organ Factory in Katy. The Club went on field trips to the Door Factory on Hempstead Road. The Club also went on field trips to the Bowling Alley Factory in East Texas and to a saw mill in the Channelview area. Some of these field trips yielded free scraps of lumber and special one time deals. The Club went on field trips to SW Panel Products in Katy and to Island Woodworks/Millworks in Galveston. Additionally, Michael Chandler Woodworking would have bench making classes on consecutive Saturdays that various Club members would attend. (again I wish I could say more about each these field trips?)
Another activity from early in the Club’s history was the annual formal banquet. These were held at Rice University and cost about $25 per person. They were held in place of the December meeting. They would include a show and tell with a judged jury. These only lasted during the Club’s first 2-3 years and ultimately became cost restrictive.
The annual picnic is an activity that has remained in place throughout the years although it seems to have changed in character quite a bit. Early Club picnics were held at the home shop of Brian Owens. A swap meet was an integral part of the picnic. Sponsors would contribute items for a raffle. Some years these items were substantial and numerous.
Early in the Club’s development they had established the book library and the video library that still exist today. Until the mid 1990’s the Club also had a tool library which seems to have fallen by the wayside. Public comments at recent meetings indicate however that the borrowing and lending of tools is an available resource, albeit on a personal, one on one basis. The Club used to place newsletters in trays at many local vendors for free distribution to the public. The Club also used to pay for add space in various hobbyist publications. (These both seem like good membership building ideas?)The Problems and Solutions session of each Club meeting was a natural development that has existed since the Club’s initiation. Similarly the Show and Tell session has been a long standing and valuable Club resource. Another early element was the establishment of clinics over such topics as sharpening, band sawing, and turning. These clinics gave way to the establishment of Splinter Groups which now provide specialized focus on various disciplines. The Club is currently developing a mentorship program with a hierarchy of experts in different areas.
For many years the Club would give demonstrations in area malls such as the Northwest Mall and Northline Mall. The club would have charity sales where all of the proceeds would go to local charities such as the Make A Wish foundation. Year after year the Club contributed from $3K to $7K. New mall regulations and economics put an end to this activity. Our efforts have been redirected to the production of toys for the seasonal Toys for Tots campaigns.
Over the years various members have attained different levels of notoriety. Ken Wallace turned some of the “Bowling Alley” Maple into “Sweetheart” rockers that brought top dollar at the Club’s charity sales. Another member, John Gay, is scheduled to be the subject of an episode on HGTV. Steve Proctor and Todd Burch have both been commissioned to produce cabinetry. Maurice Gordon was spotlighted in issue #91 of Fine Woodworking magazine for an article on shop design.
Over the years the Club has developed a mission statement, but a recent conversation with Bill revealed that the Club’s de-facto mission originally was less altruistic and a bit more self serving. I think that it is safe to say that most members join the Club in order to see what they can learn from others and to avail themselves of what resources the Club has to offer. It is only after having experienced the camaraderie and various other tangible benefits of the Club that a member might have the opportunity to contribute with their own expertise and resources.
At its inception the Club’s strength was in helping to facilitate the members’ woodworking interests and in educating each other in basic skills. In more recent times however, the Club developed the following mission statement: The Club will promote woodworking by providing a forum for the exchange of ideas, to help members improve their wood working skills and techniques and to promote safer wood working habits and conditions. The Club’s past performance and current mission are in concert with each other and this most assuredly guarantees its future success.