2005 Scroll Saw Picnic Roundup

Rob Starr, marketing coordinator at Fox Chapel Publishing, presents a birthday cake to John Nelson at the Pennsylvania Scroll Saw Picnic. Al Spicer of North Carolina scrolled this “York Minster Cathedral Clock,” which won him the Best in Show award in the S.A.W. contest at the Pennsylvania Scroll Saw Picnic. Gail Jennings, co-owner of Quail Hollow Wood Arts and an organizer of the Branson Scroll Saw Picnic, tries his hand at scrolling a compound swan in the SSW “Scroll Off”contest. Branson Picnic “Scroll Off” finalists and their times: (L-R) Peter Ort 0:46, Rick Hutcheson 0:30, John Russworm 0:39, Wole Ajala, 0:28, Steve Garrison 0:40 Kirk Pryor of Minnesota won Best in Show from the S.A.W. contest with his “African Adventure” at the Branson Scroll Saw Picnic. “Forest Friends,” scrolled by Barbara Wilson of Washington, took home the Peoples’ Choice Award at the Northwest Scroll Saw Trade Show. Renowned puzzle-maker Carter Johnson demonstrates his Technique at the Mid-West Scroll Saw Trade Show. Carter free-hand cuts puzzles out of 1-cent postage stamps. Peter Menini, of Illinois took home the Best in Show award in the S.A.W. contest at the Mid-West Scroll Saw Trade Show with his “Peacock Clock.” Scroll Saw Picnics are great places to find new projects to keep you busy or gather advice to make your shop time more productive. Over the summer, scrollers across the country had several opportunities to speak with manufacturers, show off their talents and socialize with fellow enthusiasts. Traditional scroll saw picnics, such as the one started several years ago at Dale Whisler’s farm in Stevens, PA, were held in Phoenixville, AZ, and Harrisonburg, VA. These picnics captured the feeling of those first Pennsylvania Picnics—a place to gather with scrollers, have a nice meal, and show off your work. There were raffles, a show and tell table, food, and fellowship. Several of the other picnics have grown over the years to become more like a trade show. Pennsylvania The PA Scroll Saw Picnic, held June 11 in Stevens, PA, was organized by the Tri-County Scrollers. The picnic featured vendors and visitors from across the country. Scroll Saw Woodworking & Crafts held its first “Scroll Off,” a timed competition where participants cut a compound swan pattern from Diana Thompson’s book 3-D Patterns for the Scroll Saw. John Meloling of Baldwinsville, NY, took the prize with a time of 58 seconds. John raced against and beat accomplished author and pattern designer, John Nelson. He was awarded a $50 Fox Chapel gift certificate. Al Spicer of North Carolina, took home the Best in Show prize from the Scroll Saw Association of the World (S.A.W.) contest with his “York Minster Cathedral Clock.” John Gouveia of North Carolina took home the Peoples’ Choice Award with his “Intarsia Walking Tiger.” Branson The Branson Scroll Saw Picnic, held July 9 in Branson, MO, was organized by Gail and Carol Jennings of Quail Hollow Wood Arts. This show also featured vendors and visitors from across the country. Kirk Pryor of Minnesota took home the Best in Show from the S.A.W. contest with his “African Adventure.” Ashley Harvey, 16, of Missouri, took home the Peoples’ Choice Award for her “Dome Clock.” Wole Ajala of Mt. Pleasant, TX, took home the prize in SSW’s second “Scroll Off” contest. He raced against scrolling guru Rick Hutcheson and took home top honors by scrolling Diana’s swan in a record time of 28 seconds! Born in England, Wole started scrolling at the age of six, and perfected his skills while his family was in Nigeria doing missionary work. Each sibling had to scroll out a certain number of projects after school before being able to play. That was enough incentive for Wole to become a speed scroller. With his father’s encouragement he began entering and winning arts and crafts contests at the age of eight. Wole is currently a licensed preacher and president of the East Texas Scrollers Association, a chapter of S.A.W. He frequently demonstrates at craft shows and teaches classes for all skill levels. Wole was awarded a $50 Fox Chapel book gift certificate for his record time. Northwest The 2005 Northwest Scroll Saw Trade Show, was held July 30, in Portland, OR. The Wooden Teddy Bear organized the show. In addition to having vendors and a scrolling contest, Frank Pozsgai gave a seminar on metal cutting, and Nedra Denison gave a seminar on pyrography. Barbara Wilson of Washington took home the Peoples’ Choice award with her “Forest Friends.” Wisconsin The Mid-West Scroll Saw Trade show was held Aug. 6 in Richland Center, WI. Floyd and Carol Hacker of Ocooch Hardwoods and Dirk and Karen Boelman of The Art Factory organized the event. Instead of a speed cutting contest, SSW hosted a“Scroll a Fox Free-hand” contest. Donna Baltz of Redgranite, WI cut out the Fox Chapel logo the most accurately, without using a pattern, to win a $50 Fox Books gift certificate. In the S.A.W. contest, Peter Menini, of Illinois took home the Best in Show prize for his “Peacock Lamp.” Annja Starrett of Ohio, took home the Peoples’ Choice Award for her “Intarsia Tiger Fish.” Plans are already underway for the 2006 season. Be sure to check future issues of SSW for more details.

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