Meeting Minutes – August 2, 2025

Meeting Location: PMC, 11420 Hwy. 190, Hammond

• Fellowship before meeting
• Collection of dues (Rick Albrecht) and selling of shirts and caps (Lee Owens)

Invocation and Pledge of Allegiance – Harold Choate

Welcome and Introduction of Guests– There were 23 BRWC members attending the club meeting and 3 visitors. Two of the visitors became new members. There were quite a few more people in attendance at the meeting because it was a joint meeting of the Baton Rouge Woodworkers Club and the St. Tammany Woodworkers Guild.

Officer Reports:

• Vice-President – George Campagna reported that the schedule for the remainder of the year’s presentations would have one change. The Swamp Fest officials decided to cancel the October event because they already had one event earlier this year and wanted to get back to their normal schedule. So, they are planning to have the next Swamp Fest in October of next year. He also reported that Harold Choate is making some arrangements for a tour of the Marucci Bat Factory. This will probably happen in September or October. The members expressed interest in participating in this factory tour.
• Secretary-Lee Soileaux reported that there were 21 members attending last month’s meeting and 2 show and tells. He also complimented the team (George Campagna, Harold Choate, Robert Cheramie) that has posted some photographs and short videos of their Obrien House table build. There was some brief discussion of this and it was thought that this would be an excellent recruitment tactic. Members on build teams are encouraged to do more documentation of their efforts to give the web site and Facebook pages more interest value to digital visitors.
• Treasurer – Rick Albrecht reported on the club’s bank balance.
• Webmaster – Open
• Community Service – Ken Brown reported that the teams involved in the O’brien House table build are proceeding nicely with most of them completing or nearing completion. He asked that the teams call O’brien House before delivering the tables to make sure someone would be there to let them into the facility and help them. He also reminded teams to send in their receipts for reimbursement.
• Education Outreach – Open

New and Ongoing Club Business

• Executive Committee Update – Richard reported that we are discussing the options for contracting with someone to maintain the club’s website and Facebook pages as a back up to our current arrangement. Richard received a message from a club in Ohio asking about our club’s values and the committee responded to that. Also, Richard was contacted by someone from Maker’s Space in New Orleans who wanted to know whether we would be interested in being provided with a central location for meetings as well as machines. Richard indicated that this would entail a monthly fee which the club could not afford.
• Tent Purchase – Richard reported that the tent has been purchased and was set up for display outside of PMC so that club members could see what had been bought. It appears to be well made and of a size that should be useful for the purposes anticipated. The Executive Committee after receiving approval from the general membership to decide which tent to buy opted to buy the more expensive but sturdier and more attractive tent.
• Swampfest – see Vice President’s report above. Richard proposed that the club substitute a cook-out and tool swap event for the now open October schedule. This was approved.
• St. Tammany Woodworkers Guild Business – In the interest of saving time the Guild president gave a very short version of the St. Tammany Woodworkers Guild Business and then introduced the guest speaker from Titebond Glue.

Members Questions/Concerns – No questions or concerns expressed.

Safety Topic – No safety topic presentation.

Skill Topic: Titebond Glue – Bob Behnke (Titebond Rep) Mr. Behnke gave a very good and thorough presentation on the nature and limitations of glues in general and Titebond in particular. He also gave some very helpful tips on wood preparation and project assembly. There was much interest in the topics presented and many questions were asked.

Show-and-Tell – BRWC & STWG

Adjourn