The SeatWeavers' Guild Gathering 2009

MONDAY MENTION–Thank you to all the dedicated, determined, and delightful member organizers and to all member attendees of The SeatWeavers’ Guild (TSWG) that made our 2nd Annual Gathering on July 31-August 3, 2009, such a great success!

Mindy King and Bonnie Rashleigh, the event planning committee, did another super job organizing the venue at Robbins Crossing in Nelsonville, OH. Thanks to everyone on the staff at The Inn at Hocking College for the fine meeting room, motel rooms and restaurant facilities, too.

Bill Brick demonstrating a chair holding jig to make the chair caning job easier and more hands-free. — Bill Brick showing his chair holding jig

We’d also like to thank Norm Fox, the Director at Robbins Crossing, and his very amiable cooking crew for providing us with the space and a fantastic home-cooked (on a wood stove, no less) lunch for all our attendees.

Our theme this year was “Adventures in Advanced Chair Caning Patterns,” and the demonstrators provided quite an array of interesting patterns, most of which were unfamiliar to and never attempted by most of our attendees.

Wayne Sharp demonstrating the spiderweb cane technique at the 2009 annual gathering of The SeatWeavers' Guild. — Wayne Sharp demonstrating spiderweb caning technique

Some demonstrations were actual hands-on audience experiences, some explained their designs, some used handout instructions, and some combined all three.

As in previous years, when we “gathered” in Nelsonville, there was a dedicated time for sharing hints, tips, and tools. This was to help broaden the individual chair seat weaver’s awareness of what’s available to them.

Tips were also shared to help speed up the weaving process in many cases, which made us weavers more productive and improved each person’s bottom line in their business.

Then, too, we had our annual general membership meeting, where we elected board members and ratified our by-laws. As we speak, the incorporation of our chair caning guild is in process.

Attendees of The SeatWeavers' Guild annual 2009 meeting and Gathering in Nelsonville, OH. — TSWG 2009 Gathering attendees in Nelsonville, OH

Our new Executive Board elected in July 2009 consists of:

President, Cathryn Peters

Vice President, Mindy King

Secretary, Allene Hooper

Treasurer, Mical Wilmoth Carton

Member-at-Large, Tom Holtkamp

Member-at-Large, Pierre Amyotte

Member-at-Large, Joyce Curtis

Committee Heads:

Membership: Bonnie Krist

Newsletter & Historian: Jill Wood

Events: Mindy King

Parliamentarian: David W. Dick

Website & Publicity: Cathryn Peters

Please take a look at our website, www.SeatWeaversGuild.org, where we will soon add the 2009 picture albums. Here’s a little video that Mindy King put together for us. Enjoy!