NOTE: “Today” and “tonight” refer to Friday, Nov. 1.
PORT TOWNSEND — North Olympic Peninsula woodworking talent will be on display at the eighth annual Port Townsend Woodworkers Show on Saturday and Sunday, a celebration that begins with a Black Tie and Carhartts fancy dress party tonight.
Woodworkers have an eye toward the future, with young and upcoming woodworkers prominently featured at the events.
Tonight’s “Woodworkers Not-a-Ball” will be from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Sirens Pub, 823 Water St., presented by the Port Townsend School of Woodworking.
Prizes will be given for the best costumes, which can include Halloween costumes or formal wear — with a sprinkling of sawdust.
Admission is free, with a suggested $10 donation to the school’s Woodworkers of the Future Scholarship Fund.
Appetizers start at 6:30 p.m. with a cash bar only for ages 21 and older.
Exhibit
The Woodworkers Show will be open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday at the American Legion Hall, at Water and Monroe streets.
The Chimacum High School wood-shop students will bring a selection of their creations.
“They have some pretty amazing student work there,” said Seth Rolland, a woodwork show organizer.
The show includes 24 booths featuring furniture- and cabinetmakers, instrument-makers, boat-builders, carvers, sculptors, jewelers and turners.
“It’s always a good variety of people showing their things off,” Rolland said.
This year’s show will feature new work and exhibitors in addition to returning artists, he said.
Rolland said items and services for sale at the show can range from $20 gift items to kitchens worth tens of thousands of dollars.
The show is organized and presented by The Splinter Group, a loose-knit collective of woodworkers with the mission statement “Dovetailing two communities: woodworkers and Port Townsend.”
Splinter Group members are local professional woodworkers John Boles, Steve Habersetzer, Michael Hamilton, Bob Larson, Tim Lawson, John Marckworth and Rolland.
They say on their website that they “revived the show, run by Jim Tolpin and John Marckworth from 1997-2002 in 2006.”
This year’s sponsors include Carl’s Building Supply, Edensaw Woods Ltd., Henery’s Do it Best Hardware, the Port Townsend School of Woodworking and The Splinter Group.
For more information, visit www.splintergroup.org or www.ptwoodschool.com, or phone 360-774-0224.
________
Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
