Social Saturday!

[ed4copies]

Turn on Chicago is going on this weekend!

So, we knew Don Ward (Its Virgil) was going to be one of the demonstrators and he has been a tremendous mentor for Dawn in her casting over the last couple years, so we were really hoping to meet him, in person.

As it turned out, Don was not scheduled for a lot of activities on Saturday. So, Dawn and I travelled to Mundelein to meet our "phone friend".

As happens with most of the folks we meet, Don's warmth and "affability" made it seem like "old home day". We felt like we had known him and his daughter Emily for years.

Unfortunately, Don did not select his entree very well ("Sweet apple" sauce on BBQ ribs), as the TEXANS have REAL ribs that tingle on the way down ---yes I have eaten in Dallas.

But, have you ever sat and listened to two great authorities on casting?? Spellbinding:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

Actually, the conversation was varied, and Don's "portfolio of pens" certainly shows the breadth of his travels and knowledge.

I have seen lots of pens. I have NEVER seen a collection of pens that were so uniformly PERFECT at every joint and transition point. Don is, truly a MASTER of this craft.

So, thanks to Don and Emily for allowing us to get to know them, a little better. Looking forward to your next trip to the area!!!

 

[low_48]

Why didn't you go to the dining hall and enjoy the luke-warm mass prepared food? No need to answer. I went Friday and Sat., had a great time. I dropped off a dozen pens for the troops, and turned a couple Friday night. We had a nice line of guys waiting to turn, so only held up them up for a bit to get out the two pens. I didn't go to any of Don's seminars, sorry, so can't let you know what kind of response he had. I did have an OMG moment. Jimmy Clewes turned a 3x4x12" long board into a winged box. He turned the Jet to max, 3200 rpm and let-er-rip. It sounded like a Stearman was ready for take off! It was a great event!

 

[DCBluesman]

I'm jealous, Ed. I met Don about 5 years ago in Provo and haven't had the pleasure since. Let me tell you, though, his pens were darned near perfect THEN!

 

[OKLAHOMAN]

The first time I met Don was a about 4 years ago, he drove up and met with Paul Huffman and myself for lunch and a trip to Padgets Wood where we met up with
Les Smith, I really was impressed with him and then when we checked out he pulls out this snake skin fountain pen to sign the ticket.WOW a really well done Little Havana . The next time was at the first Oklahoma meeting held at my place a couple of years ago, he brought some of his snake and lable pens.....perfection, then gave a demo on turning a caseing pen and finally a demo on eating hamburgers:wink::biggrin:.

 

[alphageek]

Nice! Sounds like fun... Hopefully they came out of there with some new ideas! Its always cool when great minds get together to talk - all kinds of new things tend to spark!

 

[ed4copies]

Nice! Sounds like fun... Hopefully they came out of there with some new ideas! Its always cool when great minds get together to talk - all kinds of new things tend to spark!

Yeah....................................zzz

FUN!!!..............................zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

En.........joy..........................ed every minute.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

 

[alphageek]

Nice! Sounds like fun... Hopefully they came out of there with some new ideas! Its always cool when great minds get together to talk - all kinds of new things tend to spark!

Yeah....................................zzz

FUN!!!..............................zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

En.........joy..........................ed every minute.......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

LOL!!! Hey - at least he brought pretty pens for you to look at

 

[its_virgil]

I too enjoyed the visit with Ed and Dawn. They are as nice as they are complementary and Emily and I had a great time. Thanks Ed for lunch...the ribs were excellent....not Texas ribs but still excellent. I am an expert on both ribs and hamburgers.

Ed and Dawn are themselves quite knowledgeable about pen making, casting, and what we as penturners would like to be available to us. Ed and Dawn have some exciting "irons" in the Exotics' fire so check often for some new and exciting exotic items.

I also was allowed to see into Ed and Dawn's pen cases. Some of the pens were made by them and others were made by some of us. I got to see the infamous flute pen and the star trek pen with its dilithium crystal. Luckily for me Dawn did not activate the dilithium and annihilate me into a stream of electro-plasma. All of the pens were exceptional. I saw my first and only pen (in person) made by eagle...what a treat!

Thanks to both Ed and Dawn for a great Saturday lunch and visit. Other than making pens I really enjoy talking about making pens so the lunch session was especially enjoyable.

Thanks also to the other kudos I've received in this thread. I do appreciate the kind words.

I'm off to Waco, Texas and SWAT (our symposium here in the great southwest) later this week. I hope to meet anyone who is attending. Just come up and say hi.

Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[ed4copies]

Why didn't you go to the dining hall and enjoy the luke-warm mass prepared food? No need to answer. I went Friday and Sat., had a great time. I dropped off a dozen pens for the troops, and turned a couple Friday night. We had a nice line of guys waiting to turn, so only held up them up for a bit to get out the two pens. I didn't go to any of Don's seminars, sorry, so can't let you know what kind of response he had. I did have an OMG moment. Jimmy Clewes turned a 3x4x12" long board into a winged box. He turned the Jet to max, 3200 rpm and let-er-rip. It sounded like a Stearman was ready for take off! It was a great event!

At least you knew that they WERE RIBS, Don!!!

Sounds like the "college-faire" was not as "identifiable"!!:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin: