#268

Yesterday I drove to Little Rock and back in the same day to attend the Arkansas Governor's Arts Awards Banquet. It was a lovely event and I got to watch friends receive recognition for their contributions to the arts. I had been on the awards panel for the Arts Council and we had made some good choices in support of arts integration in schools.

One of my favorite awards was for an art teacher who's taught for 42 years in a Conway, Arkansas middle school. We awarded her a special Judge's Recognition Award, and I have to say that I'm very pleased we did. She seems to have touched the hearts of all those gathered in celebration of Arkansas Arts.

I arrived home to find that 2 copies of Fine Woodworking #268 had come in the mail. In it are an article I wrote on hidden splines, and one by my good friend Jerry Forshee in which he shares wood working wisdom he's learned from his own experience and from taking many classes with master woodworkers at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking. Jerry, as a retired University of Indiana professor in computer sciences, has a way of cutting to the chase.

Jerry and I have a strong connection. Several years ago, before Jerry and I had met, his wife complained to my sister Sue that he had been watching a particular woodworking DVD over and over again. Sue asked what it was about. Linda said, "Box Making." Jerry's wife and my sister are best of friends. The very small size of our worlds, in the way we intersect with each other is always a source of amusement, befuddlement and delight. I'm delighted to share a few pages in FWW #268 with such a good friend.

As he has done in the past, Jerry will be assisting me in my classes this summer at the Marc Adams School of Woodworking. The photo was taken by Fine Woodworking editor Barry Dima, when he visited with me last fall.

Today I will teach kids at the Clear Spring School.

Make, fix, create, and assist others in learning lifewise.