The Georgia Association of Woodturners (GAW) presents its annual “Turning Southern Style” symposium. This year’s event will again be held at the Dalton Convention Center in Dalton, GA. With our slate of all-star demonstrators, a large group of vendors, and a great facility, this promises to be one of the largest, most informative and enjoyable symposiums in our 24 year history.
Stuart Batty
David Ellsworth
Hans Weissflog
Dan Douthart
Steve Mellott
Bill Lynch
After the rotations end on Friday, you are invited to avoid the Friday night restaurant crowds by staying at the Convention Center for dinner, socializing, and your choice of several 90 minute special interest sessions. Dinner will be an Italian Buffet including entree, vegetarian entree, bread, salad, tea, & water.
Dinner tickets are $17.50 each. CASH bar available. No cost for attending the sessions.
Special Interest Night details below.
Dalton Convention Center
2211 Dug Gap Battle Road
Dalton, GA 30720
Anticipated Vendors: The following vendors have registered. Vendors will be added as they register.
American Association of Woodturners
Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts
Best Wood Tools
Big Monk Lumber
Buffalo Woodturning Products
Century Tree
SPIRACRAFT
John Jordan
MDI Woodcarvers Supply
Niles Bottlestoppers
Ringmaster
Thompson Lathe Tools
Walnut Log
Woodcraft of Chattanooga
2 Tree Boyz Wood
WoodTurners Wonders
Elisabeth Ross – Chairman
symposium@gawoodturner.org
678-887-0896
Each demonstration room is walled off and insulated to eliminate “sound bleed” from the surrounding rooms. Three of the rooms are reserved for the featured and guest demonstrators. The 4th room is reserved for our vendor demonstrators who take the time to demonstrate and explain their tools before you make a purchase.
Always a favorite, the Instant Gallery will be open throughout the symposium. This large exhibit of wood turned art provides a unique opportunity for collectors to become acquainted with both new and well-known artists. Many works will be available for sale. For “turners,” the gallery is a great way to see what others have been up to. We invite each participant to display up to four pieces of his/her work for all to enjoy. Symposium attendees will vote on a People’s Choice winner who will be reimbursed up to $100 spent at any of the vendors during the symposium.
For those of you who need “just one more tool,” a special piece of wood, or need to replenish your shop supplies, we have plenty of vendors who can help you out. The Vendor Trade Area will be open during the entire symposium.
A delicious banquet dinner will be served Saturday evening. The price of the banquet is included in your registration fee. Additional banquet tickets can be purchased for spouses or guests who are not registered to attend the demos. Immediately following the banquet, we will begin the auction, which will include turned pieces, tools, supplies and wood donated by our vendors, attendees and GAW members. All proceeds from the auction support continuing wood turning education through the GAW scholarship program. Each turner attending the symposium is encouraged to bring a turned piece (or anything you choose) to support the scholarship fund.
Each registered attendee can bring a youth (under the age of 18) free of charge. We will even buy them dinner at the Banquet.
4:30-5:30 P.M. Break after last demo – ****Vendors open during this time.
5:00-8:00 P.M. Cash bar open
5:30-6:30 P.M. Italian buffet (Tickets required)
7:00-8:30 P.M. Special interest sessions
Session 1: Newbie’s Corner – Are you a new or novice turner? Bring your questions to this session with some of our local woodturning experts.
Session 2: Finishing the Finish! – In this session, Vendor/Woodturning Instructor Jeff Hornung will demonstrate the proper use of many popular finishing products. You’ll learn the differences, pros and cons, of surface and penetrating finishes. This will be a practical demo, and he will apply many of these finishes in real time. Key points will include “gloss vs satin vs matt”, “to buff or not to buff” and “foodsafe”.
Session 3: Pen-turner’s Share & Swap – Have a special tip, trick or jig that saves time or money and produces consistent results? We’d love to have you share it with your fellow pen-turners in this session. The session will conclude with a pen swap! (More info to on our website.)
Session 4: Q&A with the featured demonstrators Stuart Batty, David Ellsworth and Hans Weissflog.
We have a reserved seating area at the Convention Center where spouses and guests can relax and enjoy a cup of coffee or tea. There is no charge to use this area. We will also have a craft room where spouses and guests can work on their favorite hobbies or participate in several scheduled activities.
For those that quilt or sew, and want to participate, here is an idea. Make a Beads of Courage bag. Here is a link to the instructions. Just make a bag, or two, or three and bring them to the symposium. We’ll put them on display and get them to kids that can use them.