16 • Mildura Weekly - Friday January 9, 2009
Getting the wood on some ancient skills... By GRANT MAYNARD WE’VE been making use of wood since time immemorial, so it’s not surprising that even in these most modern of times there are still many among us who feel a special affinity with this wondrous material. If you subscribe to Darwin’s theory, wood has been our constant companion – in the trees when we were swinging through them and still later when we descended to the ground. If you believe the Bible, then wood still holds a special place in our history – after all, were not Adam and Eve dwellers of a garden full of trees and was not Noah’s Ark a wooden vessel? Whatever your beliefs, wood has been around a long time, and man has learned to work it into some very useful and, at other times, decorative items. It was the material that gave us warmth once we discovered fire and it still warms many of us in Sunraysia’s cold winter. It remains a staple of the building industry – having provided us with shelter for aeons, and it is still used by dedicated wood workers and wood turners the world over. That brings us neatly to the Mildura Woodturners and Woodworkers Inc., one of many groups around the globe dedicated to the skills of transforming raw timber into something useful around the home, or as an artful decoration. For the past 20 years and more, the Mildura-based club has been fostering the wood working skills of its members in our region.
• WOODSMEN: Bruce Morcom, ABOVE, ponders a couple pieces of timber, wondering what he can do with them, while, LEFT, Robin Lewis, a member of the club for the past 14 years, uses a lathe to get his job done and BELOW, Ron Scheele, of Mildura, is a relative newcomer, having been working wood with the club for just 18 months.
The group has a monthly meeting – every second Friday of the month – from 7pm at the MADEC Centre on Deakin Avenue, Mildura, and its workshop days are Mondays, Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9am till about noon at its Deakin Avenue workshop, also part of the MADEC complex. Long time member and dedicated woodworker, Max Innes, says: “All our members
have certain skills that they are keen to pass onto to those who are interested.” The group is open to both sexes and juniors. Although membership is predominantly male, the group has five active female members and Max acknowledges the group’s timetable makes it hard for juniors to get involved at present. “But juniors are welcome to attend our Saturday work-
shop days as long as they are supervised by a parent or guardian,” he said. The group is active in the community. One of its more high-profile activities is a demonstration of wood working and turning skills at the Old Mildura Homestead on Thursday and Sunday mornings. “We have a roster of members who go along there to show people what they can do
New Two Bedroom Retirement Villas
150,000
$
ONLY
Community Centre
s s s s s s s s s
Security Automatic Gates Landscaped Gardens All Backyards Fenced Community Centre Solar Heated Pool Media Room with Big Screen Lock-up Garage Small Pets Welcome Manager On Site
PH 1300 135 602 FOR AN INFORMATION PACK
Community Centre & Display Units Open Wednesday to Sunday Wed - Fri 9am to 5pm, Sat & Sun 12noon to 5pm
333 Eighth Street Mildura Victoria Phone (03) 5021 1077 MGA_11/08_Mweekly
with wood,” Max said. Then, each Christmas the group supports local charities by donating wooden toys made by members, and in many cases their spouses and partners, throughout the year for disadvantaged children across the district. That, Max says, is a very satisfying activity. Since the 1990s, the group has hosted its biennial Wood
Show at the Old Mildura Woolshed. The show is due again this year, coinciding as it has done for many years with the annual Mildura Country Music Festival and providing a showcase for group skills, talents and activities. “Once people know you are a member of our group,” Max says, “It’s amazing the amount of wood and timber we have donated.” “We get many offers of wood from people taking out trees, as well as other sources... like historical wood from houses and other timber structures. “In fact, at the moment we have enough wood to last us for quite a while and we maybe be able to help someone who is looking for wood for a special project.” The most common local woods use include jacaranda, Silky oak, apricot and other fruit trees and, of course, red gum! For more information on the Mildura Woodturners and Woodworkers group contact secretary, Kath Underwood, on 5021 2963 or Max Innes on 5023 3328.