Each spring our club presents a wood carving class for beginning wood carvers.  Classes are taught through the Bloomington, Illinois Parks and Rec. Department at the Lincoln Leisure Center in Bloomington.

We teach basic sharpening, tool handling, shape carving, both in the round and flat, as well as examples of using power tools.

Beginning Woodcarving--Tuesday evenings, mid April through mid May, 7:00-9:00 PM, Lincoln Leisure Center, Bloomington, IL. 

The cost is $45.00.  Class size will be six to fifteen students.  Ages 12 and up may participate.  Contact Bloomington Parks & Rec. at (309) 434-2260. A carving knife will be available for purchase at the class for an additional $10.00.

Click here for more details on how the class is taught.

In Recent years the club has donated friendship canes to the Mennonite Relief sale to put up for auction to benefit the sale.  In return we are allowed to set up a booth where we demonstrate carving and get the word out about our club.

The canes are created by club members taking a block of wood approximately 4 inches high by 3 inches wide by 3 inches deep.  The blocks are drilled down through the center with a three quarter inch hole.  The purpose of the hole is to slide the finished blocks onto a 3/4 inch dowel rod stacking them into a cane.  Our wood turner, Bob Adam, turns a foot for the canes.  Sometimes handles are carved, other times they are turned by Bob.

Approximately 15,000 people traverse the Interstate Center during the sale.  Not all of them stop by our booth but we are kept busy the entire time talking to the folks who do.  It's a long hard evening the Friday night and a long hard day Saturday but well worth the response we get from the crowds.  The sale folks appreciate our donation too.

As long as they'll have us, we'll donate and demonstrate.

Canes donated to the 2000 sale.

Club members talking to folks at one of the sales.

This is the cane, or actually more of a staff donated to the 1999 sale.

Each year the club holds our annual show.  We usually have a tremendous amount of club participation.  We also have other individual carvers and members from other clubs join us in our show.

We raffle items every year to help pay for the next years show.  We also sell small items to help defray costs.  We give away items during the show too.  We not only show off our finished carvings but demonstrate woodcarving too.

We have a contest with prizes going to best of show and second best of show.  Ribbons are handed out for other prizes also.

Some folks even sell carvings.  Come join us for one of our shows.  Visit the Carving Shows page for details on the next up and coming show.

We try to hold as many of them as we can.  We usually hold one and sometimes two a year if we can generate enough interest.  We have had past seminars with Jeff Phares, Rex Branson, and Kirt Curtis.  That's just in recent years.  We have had lots of seminars with other world class carvers too.

We did not used to offer participation outside of the club, however, we've changed our minds about that.  We now advertise when we plan on having a seminar in Chip Chats and allow folks not in the club attend.  It's always worked out because we haven't met a carver we haven't liked.

To see the past and up coming seminars visit our Seminars page.

We have done lots.  Of course each month we have a program at the meeting where someone in the club teaches a technique, or we bring in an expert to teach us all something new. 

We have also set up a booth at the Taste of Country Fair in Lexington, IL.

We have demoed carving at the Woodworkers Store in Bloomington.

Several of our carvers have taught carving classes to Boy and Girl Scouts and various school and religious organizations.

We've put club carvings on display at the IIA Credit Union and a store in downtown Bloomington called About Books.  We do an annual contest each December where we compete against each other, all in fun of course, with the carvings we've done that year.

We also do a Christmas ornament exchange each year among club members.  You carve and paint an ornament, put it into a drawing, and each donator pulls a number matching a carving out of a hat.  That carving then belongs to them.  Not a lot of work but a lot of fun.  And you get some nice Christmas ornaments too.

We have an annual meeting each January at a local buffet and a club picnic in July.  Mark Featherly, one of our club members, is the official photographer for the International Wood Carvers Congress.  Each year  Mark shows us those photos after the congress during one of our meeting programs.

As you can see, our club does a lot.  We have some real fine members who work hard at making this club a success.  If you think you might be interested in becoming a member visit the Meetings page for information on how to join.  If you'd just like to come to a meeting to see what we're all about, visitors are always welcome.  And please don't be intimidated by the magnificent wood sculptures you'll see at the meetings.  All of the folks there were beginners at one time too and, in some small way, or in some cases a big way, this club helped them to get to where they are today.  We can help you too, even if you never even whittled a tree branch before.  All it takes is the will to want to do it.  We can teach you how.