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About us
Meetings are held at 7:00 PM on the second Thursday of each month in the Parkwood United Methodist Church at 35 Mayo Road, Edgewater, Maryland. These meetings include general business, a “show and tell” portion from the general membership, and a scheduled speaker.
Membership in the AWG is open to all persons 18 years and older . One may join while attending a meeting or through the mail by filling out an application and paying the annual membership fee of $35. Visitors are always welcome. If you would like to join our Guild, download and print the Membership Application, and mail it to the address on the form.
Our address is: AWG, P.O. Box 6001, Annapolis, Maryland 20401
Officers are elected each May from the general membership of the AWG. They include a President, 1st Vice President, 2nd Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Program Chair, and Membership Chair. Committee chairpersons and other committee members are appointed by the President as the need arises.
Membership affords the member in good standing the monthly newsletter; access to the William M. Lee Lending library (named and maintained in loving memory of William M. Lee, a former member ); participation in seminars; special trips and special projects. Special projects include:
- a display booth manned by members at the annual Timonium wood show
- crafting and distributing of wooden items to Sarah’s House, a local shelter for broken families
- building park benches for the William Paca House on behalf of the Historic Annapolis Foundation
- participating in the restoration of the cupola on the Maryland State House
- constructing architect-designed bird houses for a Habitat for Humanity fund-raising auction — one member’s creation brought over $900 to Habitat
- building of collection boxes and making signs for the S. P. C. A.
- participating in improvement and renovation projects for local community parks
The AWG was founded in 1989, and has grown to approximately 200 members. The initial vision was to reach out to both amateur and professional woodworkers who are devoted to learning, teaching, practicing and expanding every aspect of woodworking. We have grown from there.
This article appeared in THE CAPITAL newspaper March 1, 2004 Woodworkers share craft secrets
Founding members comments:
Don, Hugh, and Ralph are founding members who currently are and have faithfully been members in good standing. Their thoughts are interesting. Enjoy…
The idea for the need of a group for woodworking started on a ride home form the Baltimore Wood Working Show of 1989. It was a small group that began to meet in the Annapolis area. An ad was put in the local paper, signs were made and posted…and the first meetings were held at a founding members home and then the public library, as the group grew in number the Bates High School housed the meetings. Anyone interested in forming an organization was invited to attended. At first 10 or 12 people responded and the guild was born. The aim of the organization was determined, the name was set and at the next meeting some showed up, some did not, and some were never to be seen again. The first challenges were how to lay the ground work that would support the AWG and help it to flourish. The wisdom of the founding and early members set the standards high and we still live by these by-laws with very few revisions. These same members were instrumental in nurturing the growth of the emerging AWG. As the AWG grew in membership and organization a larger meeting place needed to be found-we found it at Parkwood. The goal in the beginning was to form a woodworkers guild that would; be of interest to people, provide knowledgeable speakers on subjects of interest, meetings where people could ask questions and get answers to further their knowledge and skills, a place where people with common goals could enjoy fellowship. Anyone interested in joining us are welcome to visit us and participate.
You may notice members wearing this iron on logo affixed to their hats. These are still available for $2.00
See our Treasurer or Hugh at a meeting if you are interested in obtaining one.
An AWG Organizational License plate is available to members from the State of Maryland. The plate has a one time fee of $25.00 then your normal registration fee from then on. See Harlan at a meeting if you are interested.
The Guild offers a thermal mug with the AWG logo. The price is $ 5.00 see George at a meeting if you are interested in a couple of them.
AWG members are offered discounts from various retailers. Members can find them listed in the education notebook in the Guild Library.