Road Trip

[Steve Schlumpf]

John Keeton and I have been planning on attending the Ohio symposium ever since he attended it two years ago with Jamie Donaldson. We both had a great time!

Seeing as how this was quite a drive for Colleen and I, we came down early and John and Eileen showed us around the Lexington area of Kentucky. This was the first time Colleen and I had ever been to Kentucky and we were very impressed with the country, the arts and the people! Thanks for everything John and Eileen!

On our first day, John and Eileen took us to Berea to visit the Kentucky Artisan Center. I was very impressed with the layout, the amount of light to show off the work and also at the number of visitors walking through – and buying art! Wish we had something like that up here! In this photo of John, his work is on the shelf just off his right shoulder.
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Second day we went on a brewery/distillery tour! That was a first for all of us and was a lot of fun! We especially liked the sample room!!
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On day three, John and Eileen took us out to the racetrack! Neither Colleen nor I have ever been to a horse race and found ourselves in a totally different world! We loved it! Well, that and I managed to win both times when I bet the horses! Full disclosure, if I ate at McDonalds (which I don’t), with my winnings I would have been able to have fries with my Happy Meal… meaning I didn’t bet a lot of money!
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On Thursday, John took me over to meet Jamie Donaldson. Had a great time talking with Jamie while he gave us a tour of his vast turning collection and his amazing shop! Thanks for everything Jamie! I was very happy to finally get the chance to meet!

From Jamie’s, we drove up to the Ohio symposium. Had a great time there and got to see some old friends and make some new ones!
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This young lady was setting up a display in the instant gallery when we arrived! Great to see you again Cynthia!!
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The demos I attended were all exceptional! The first demo we went to was with Rudy Lopez. To be honest, I had not heard of Rudy but Don Geiger introduced me to him and advised me to check him out because he is getting hot on the demo circuit. I took Don’s advice and was very happy I did! Rudy is an excellent teacher! He explained every step he made while turning and also gave the reason why you do things a certain way. Very impressed! If you get the chance – go to his demo! You will not be disappointed!
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John and I also attended the demos by Michael and Cynthia Gibson. Their talent has them in constant demand and is even taking them out of country this coming year! Extremely happy to see them get the recognition!! Enjoyed their demos and enjoyed having dinner together even more! Always fun to catch up with friends!!
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Other demos I attended were by Ray Key, Dale Miner, Glen Lucas, Ed Kelle, Don Geiger and Nick Agar. I have to agree with Jamie’s description of Nick being the Rock Star of the group. He managed to combine humor and technical know-how in a fast-paced and entertaining way. Outstanding demonstrator and on my list of folks to see again!
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I am limited to 8 photos per post but managed to take 785 of them while visiting with John and Eileen! Colleen and I both had a blast and we look forward to visiting with John and Eileen again very soon!

[Brian Libby]

Sounds like an event to put on the bucket list! That's a great list of demostrators that were there!

[charlie knighton]

sounds like yall had a blast. thanks for sharing, but still need a mug shot without the beard

[Joseph M Lary]

My brother-in-law Rudy is one neck of a turner.I don't get to spend enough time turning with him when we visit, He got a demo out side of Omaha Ne. next month .

[Steve Schlumpf]

Joe - please tell Rudy from me that I thought he did an outstanding demo and look forward to seeing him again someday!

[Bruce Lundgren]

Steve, glad you and John and wives had a great time and that Sharon and I had a chance to meet you and John at the gallery in Berea. John's work on display there was outstanding! We also saw his work at the other gallery in town and saw a picture of the turning he did for the commission for the Governor's award which was awesome.
Sounds like the symposium was excellent and wish now that we had time to attend before heading back to Florida. You're right, Kentucky is a beautiful state. One of the nearby sites we also visited was the Pleasant Hill Shaker Village in Harodsburg. The distillery also would have been good to see. Oh we'll, next time.
Bruce

[John Keeton]

What an outstanding week!! Steve and Colleen were a joy to have visit, and it was unbelievable how much Steve and I have in common - he should be concerned!!;) Colleen and Eileen had a wonderful time while we were gone - no surprises there, and the symposium was a very well done event.

To top it off, Steve gifted me one of his beautiful SW turnings, now proudly displayed in our great room, and he also brought Eileen one of the beautiful birds eye maple swifts he makes. That will be a nice accessory for her knitting. Thanks, Steve!!

It was great to meet Bruce and his wife at the Artisan's Center. We had talked a few days before hand about possibly getting together, so the chance meeting was perfect.

Steve burned a bunch of pixels while with us, and probably talked me into upgrading my camera - that and the demo/presentation by Ed Kelle. I want to further improve my photography results and more/better tools have to be the answer!:D

Next on the list is a trip to the Michigan UP for a visit! Already starting to work on the plan.

[Steve Mawson]

Some day, 2015 is on the list. Sounds like great time was had by all. Uncle Sam let me spend several months in Kentucky back in 1967 at Ft. Knox and yes Kentucky is a great place with lots of nice folks.

[Marc Himes]

Glad you had a great (GREAT) trip Steve. We will have to talk it over soon. John; I hope I can see you when you come to the UP. Maybe we can get you for a workshop and demo at our club, as I see you are on the teaching faculty at J.C. Campbell; congratulations.

Marc

[ray hampton]

Steve, glad you and John and wives had a great time and that Sharon and I had a chance to meet you and John at the gallery in Berea. John's work on display there was outstanding! We also saw his work at the other gallery in town and saw a picture of the turning he did for the commission for the Governor's award which was awesome.
Sounds like the symposium was excellent and wish now that we had time to attend before heading back to Florida. You're right, Kentucky is a beautiful state. One of the nearby sites we also visited was the Pleasant Hill Shaker Village in Harodsburg. The distillery also would have been good to see. Oh we'll, next time.
Bruce

I glad that you like KY but next time feel free to mentioned the distillery name since there is so many

[Steve Schlumpf]

Ray... the title of the image does have the name... Town Branch Distillery. If you get the chance, it was a great tour!

[ray hampton]

so many distillers to chose from, Maker Mark and Wild Turkey would be on the list

[Jamie Donaldson]

Don't miss a chance to have lunch on the veranda at Woodford Reserve, then walk among the sleeping barrels!

[ray hampton]

what is lunch ? I eat breakfast , dinner and supper, is finger food serve during this lunch ?