Chatham Harwich Newcomers

Woodworking

Activity Leaders: Steve Patzman, Wayne Gilfort

The group is open to men and women who are members of Newcomers and who have an interest in working on wood projects. The members meet in the Fall and agree upon the next project to be undertaken, which can be either for a civic organization, or for an individual.

Generally, the project chosen is one which cannot easily be bought. The recipient of the project pays for the material. Once a project is chosen, a committee is formed to scope out the project and to develop a design for it. A determination is made of where the project will be built.

The group then meets periodically to build the project. Projects are free standing and can be built in a workshop and then delivered to the recipient.

Woodworking Group Update

The woodworking group has been busy this winter, spring, and early summer. We have completed 4 projects. Each project was completed in a different members workshop. Normally we had from 5 to 10 members at each work session

The first project was completed in the winter. Six boxes were made to display collages made by artists from trash collected on the beaches. The boxes will be located at the beaches near and around Chatham and Harwich. Hopefully, the beach goers will become more aware of the trash in the water and on the beaches. This project was led by Warren Chane and Chris Seymour.

We helped to revitalize the outdoor benches at the Chatham Elementary School. Eight metal benches with wooden seats that had rotted out. With the leadership of Bob Braman and Bob Spencer, in Bob Braman’s workshop the group cut and prepared the new slats to revitalize the benches. The students of the garden club at the school provided some needed paint to the metal parts.

The sign for the Harwich Farmers Market, had fallen due to old age, was replaced. This sign is across from the Harwich Historical Society building on Sisson Ave. Under the leadership of Mark Stoker, a group of 6 to 8 members built the replacement sign.

Two benches were built for the Harwich Conservation Trust. They will be installed at the “bog“ across the street from Cape Cod Tech on Route 124. These benches will allow the walkers of the bog a place to rest as they walk the bog. This project was led by Jay Arthur.

The woodworking group is a co-ed group open to any member of the Newcomers Club. No experience is required. We send out notices of projects and upcoming work sessions. Most sessions are in the morning for about 3 hours. They are usually held weekly, based on the project and deadlines. You come when you can and lend a hand, expertise, or soak up ideas, etc. from others at the work session. Fun and knowledge is had by all attending.

The projects we do are for local civic organizations, they provide the funds for the material. We build specialized items that can not be purchased