Sept 2016 – Celebrating our first 20 years

The club had its beginning as the “Splinters Club”, a woodturning class run by the Christchurch Polytechnic. The Tutor, Max Milesi, was retiring and the Clubs future was in the balance.

After some deliberation, a steering Committee was formed in October 1995 to consider where meetings might be held, the frequency of them and a suggested format. Subsequently, Bob Dow, Rex Marshall, Brendan McConnell, Soren Berger, George Forrester, Bruce Irvine and Denis Phillips formed the first Committee and the Christchurch Woodturners Assn. Inc. was started.

In 2016 the “Christchurch Woodturners Assn. Inc.” celebrated 20 years with  a weekend of events on the 2nd and 3rd of September. A book was produced to celebrate the event and can be downloaded using this link.

Friday evening was the time to catch up with old friends, sharing of stories, making new friends, cutting the Birthday Cake and Supper. This was held in the Harvard Lounge, Corsair Drive, Wigram.

On Saturday at the Cashmere Club there was a day of turning with a theme – celebration. Followed in the evening with a Celebratory Dinner. 

A bit of history

The first Annual General Meeting of the Christchurch Woodturners Association was held at the College of Education Lecture Theatre on March 7th, 1996, at 7.30pm.

A committee of eight was elected, three of whom were still on the committee in 2016. An annual subscription of $25.00 was settled on, reducible to $20.00 if paid by June 30th.