Meeting Minutes – January 3, 2026
Meeting Location: Rural Life Museum, 4560 Essen Ln, Baton Rouge
- 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
Officer Reports:
- Vice-President – Brandon Ginn reported the upcoming schedule of events.
- Secretary – Lee Soileaux was absent this meeting. Richard reported that there were 22 members at the last meeting.
- Treasurer – Rick Albrecht was also absent this meeting due to health concerns. Rick left a list of members who had not paid their annual dues as of this month and Richard encouraged members to see him after the meeting to pay dues. The current balance in the club’s check account is about $3,200.
- Webmaster – Open
- Community Service – Ken Brown reported that the first cabinet had been installed for the VOA. A group of volunteers will be working on a pedestal for St. Vincent DePaul. He gave a description of the pedestal and discussed some details relating to design and finish of the pedestal. Ken announced that there were still six tables remaining to be built for O’Brien House and solicited volunteers for this project.
- Education Outreach – Open
New and Ongoing Club Business
- Dues will be collected through March.
- WBR Museum Christmas Event – Richard gave thanks to those members who participated in the event.
- Marucci Field Trip Discussion – Marucci will charge an admission for each member for the Marucci Bat tour. The location of Marucci bats is in Baton Rouge where baseball bats for the major leagues are manufactured. It was noted that a discount for a large enough group was offered by Marucci but it is doubtful that there will be a sufficient number of participants to take advantage of this discount. Richard asked for members to be thinking about whether they wanted to attend or not and to let him know.
- April Zoo Event – Richard solicited volunteers for the event. We already have a sufficient number of items for the event so there is no need for anyone to make anything for the event. However, we need volunteers to assist the children and parents during the event and small drill presses as well. Further details will be forthcoming as the event nears.
Members Questions/Concerns
Safety Topic – Richard emphasized the importance of keeping a fire extinguisher in the shop and making sure it is properly charged, etc. Harold Choate suggested that a good safety topic would be about the use of push sticks for table saws and band saws.
Skill Topic: Restoring/Repairing Furniture – Harold Choate
Show-and-Tell
Adjourn
Executive Board meeting after the main meeting.