For a wonderful weekend of fellowship, education, and fantastic carvings, plan a fall trip to the Wisconsin River Woodcarvers show
If you live in the upper Midwest and you’re looking to spend a weekend with friendly folks and their high-quality carvings, put the Wisconsin River Woodcarvers show on your list of places to go. It takes place at the Holiday Inn in Stevens Point, Wisc., every September, and it’s well worth the trip.
The show is one of the largest club shows in America, with more than 100 exhibitors and more than 1,200 visitors. Seven clubs from around the state support the show, and another couple are talking about joining the fun next year. So there’s a huge variety of things to see and people to chat with, plus several suppliers so you can pick up some tools and wood, as well as a well-supported raffle.
Hourly demonstrations take place in a comfortable room near the showroom. The club provides cameras and screens so the demos are easy to see. This year’s selection included chip carving with Neil Rippey, spoon carving with Karen Henderson, air brushing with Tony Resop, sharpening with Denny Neubauer, woodburning with Echo Keller, carving a female face with Adina Huckins, and “Wood to Tree” with John Krantz.
Adina Huckins and Dylan Goodson served as the judges for the competition, which had nearly 300 entries. Carol Leavy won both the Overall Best in Show and Best in Show – Advanced Awards for her relief portrait. Paul Murphy and Susan Meyer also won Best in Show Awards. To see all of the winners, visit the club’s website.
The club hosts a truly enjoyable banquet on the show’s Saturday night. There wasn’t a program, other than sincere and heartfelt thanks to the show organizers and guests, but there was plenty of talk with the friendly club members, and the door prizes were a hoot. The club gathers ample donations from the community, including dozens of bottles of wine, cases of beer and soda, household products ranging from cleaning supplies to toilet paper, as well as generous contributions of the more usual sort from show participants—tools, gift certificates, patterns, books, etc. At the end, anyone who wishes is welcome to take home a 10-pound bag of local potatoes! It was a delightful and relaxing evening.
For a wonderful weekend of fellowship, education, and fantastic carvings, plan a fall trip to central Wisconsin and the Wisconsin River Woodcarvers show!
Visit the club online and see photos of all of the winning carvings at wisconsinriverwoodcarvers.org. The next show is scheduled for September 15-16, 2018.
