MID-AMERICA WOODCARVERS ASSOCIATION CELEBRATES 30TH ANNUAL
SHOW
The
middle of October is always an exciting time for us in Omaha, NE. We
get to showcase some wonderful art produced by our outstanding
members. Thirty years is quite a milestone, and it’s amazing that the
talent and quality of craftsmanship through the years has continued to
improve. Our show runs for three days, Friday through Sunday, and is
host to, on the average, 60 to 65 carvers and turners, our vendors,
Carol and Larry Yudis of The Woodcraft Shop, Trudy Rossiter of
Rossiter Roughouts, and John Krantz of Krantz Wood Supply.
This
year’s show featured long time carving brothers Don and Harold
Elsasser. They put on a superb display, and their expertise and
commitment to carving was evident in their variety of carvings. Two
fine gentlemen with a lot of talent.
Our
George Foral Merit Award is presented each year in memory of founding
father, George Foral, to a member of our club who has given freely of
himself or herself over a number of years in the promotion of our club
and woodcarving in general. This year’s recipient was Jim Schober,
one of the original club members from way back when. Jim has truly
been an inspiration to many carvers over his lengthy 30 years of
involvement in carving and woodturning. We were very proud to
present him with this honor.
Judging
at our show takes place on Friday evening from 6 P.M. to 9 P.M. We
thank our three well known and very capable judges, Marty Dolphens,
Larry Yudis, and Ron Clarke, for using their collective knowledge and
skill to determine our ribbon winners. Selections were not easy, as
there were 110 entries in 61 different categories. The prestigious
Best of Show honors went to Steve Schumacher for his realistic pintail
drake decoy. Steve, one of our instructors at Doane each year, seems
to be in contention every year for Best of Show with his beautiful
work. We congratulate Steve. Second Best of Show went to Don Kramer
for an outstanding carving of a woodcock game bird nestling in
leaves. Don’s beautiful display of song birds also garnered him the
“People’s Choice” award. Steve and Don are two prime examples of the
difficulty in judging when the talent is so good.
It was
nice to see more wood turners this year displaying their art and
entering the competition. Wood is good!
Following you will find a list
of the 2004 MAWA Show ribbon winners.
