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Julie Wright
02-08-2004, 11:24 AM
Well, here it is... Our website address and email address were inadverently left out. I spoke with Terry and he is going to print a story about the turn-a-thon so I'll get him to add it then... Thanks Keith for you assistance with the article..

Woodworkers hope to handcraft a pen for all troops in Iraq

Julie Wright, a nurse, has been making furniture (oops not me) in her spare time during the past two years in a shop she set up in her garage in Goose Creek.

During the past three weeks, however, Wright has focused on a new project -- turning out hand-crafted Freedom Pens for troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wright is one of a growing number of woodworkers who meet online at the SawMill Creek Woodworkers Forum.

Their goal is to craft enough pens to give one to every member of the U.S. military serving in the war zones.

She and a friend, Sarah Kouns of Goose Creek, showed me some of their handiwork last week.

"The idea has really taken off," Kouns said as she and Wright demonstrated how they use a lathe, a drill press and a band saw to craft the body of the pens out of wood.

"It's something that's cheap and inexpensive, yet it can be an heirloom for someone serving in Iraq," she said.

According to a statement from the SawMill Creek Woodworkers Forum, people from across the United States are joining in the project. Anyone who is willing to donate their time, talent or cash is welcome.

I also spoke with Keith Outten, who operates the SawMill Creek Internet service provider in Yorktown, Va. Outten said the Freedom Pens idea came to him while he was driving to work last month.

"One hundred thousand is our goal," Outten said. "We don't know how long our troops are going to be in Iraq, but we want them to know they have not been forgotten. What we're doing is not about politics. It's about remembering our servicemen."

The pens, according to the Web site, are symbols "of our support and are physical evidence that the people of America care deeply about their safety and are praying for their safe return home."

Wright showed me more than a dozen of her homemade pens.

One was made of Corian, a commercial substance often used to manufacture kitchen counter tops, while another was made from a deer's antler. The rest were made of wood.

She said she hopes the network of wood turners will grow.

In fact, she planned to visit Stratford High School, where she will show some of the students in a shop class how to make Freedom Pens.

In the meantime, Outten said he was setting up a system through the Army to have the pens shipped by military transport into Iraq.

Also, he said he had contacted his congresswoman, Rep. Jo Ann Davis of Virginia, and U.S. Sen. John Warner for help.

"C-5s (Air Force transports) take off every day for Iraq from Langley Air Force Base," Outten said. "I don't see how they could turn down a box that doesn't take more than a cubic foot of cargo space."

In Goose Creek, Wright and Kouns provide the labor but said they could use some financial help with some of the expenses, such as shipping pens to Norfolk, Va., where Outten receives them.

Anyone who wishes to help Wright with a donation can use the following address: Freedom Pen Project, P.O. Box 744, Ladson, SC 29456-0744.

As of now, such donations are not tax deductible.