The November 2023 meeting will be held on the 16th at 7pm:

"My name is Randy Willey. I live near Norwalk, IA with my wife and two children. In addition to my full time day job, I am a part time custom saw maker and an avid antique woodworking tool user and collector.

"I love the history behind old hand tools, especially planes and handsaws. That said, most old tools and specifically saws I find are usually covered in rust and need cleaned up and tuned before they are sufficiently functional. The following program will simply be a tutorial about what I have learned over the years restoring handsaws.

"These are great tools of the past that can, and many times, should be saved and restored. Whether it is grandpa’s old saw or a quality saw found at a garage sale or antique store, we will discuss some different types of saws and certain qualities and features to look for in a quality saw. We will then discuss some techniques to get that rusty old saw back to a usable tool worthy of using in your shop and passing to future generations.

November is also our Annual Meeting

at which we will elect next year's Board of Directors. If you have been curious about getting more involved with the Association, let us know at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.! We'd love to hear from you! We still will have an open position with no one yet declared for them:

 - Eugene Harms is nominated to serve as Vice President. Ramona Messenger is stepping down from VP and several other roles after 6 years volunteering in some way or another with DMWA.

 - Craig Ruegsegger is nominated to serve as Program Chair, which has been vacant for most of this year, and which runs the Program Committee and arranges speakers for the monthly meetings. (Program planning meetings are open to any member who wants to be involved in selecting and scheduling programs for our monthly meetings.)

 - The Community Service Chair, which coordinates volunteer opportunities and wood project donations to other groups, is still open after a vacancy of 2 1/2 years with no nominee again this year. We have several projects waiting for a steward to coordinate them. For now, Greg Alberts and Tom Brumback will fill in when they're able to.

- Our full slate of nominees:

President: ___________________  Ken Rummer (continuing)
Vice-President:  _______________ Eugene Harms (new, Ramona Messenger outgoing)
Treasurer: ___________________ Greg Alberts (continuing)
Secretary: ___________________ Mark Schillerstrom (continuing)
Program: ____________________ Craig Ruegsegger (new, position is vacant)
Education: ___________________ Tom Brumback (continuing)
Community Service:____________ no nominee presented (Greg and Tom filling in)
Librarian: ____________________ Shawn Brown (continuing)
Newsletter Editor: _____________  Nathan Kress (continuing remotely)

Members attending the November Annual Meeting may nominate themselves or others for a position during the meeting too.
This will be a simple voice vote for any positions running unopposed.

We could also use volunteer help with several projects that don’t require joining the board - a great way to see if we’re a good fit for your interests.

We hope you’ll consider getting involved to help to keep your Des Moines Woodworkers Association improving!

Our Annual Meeting will also include a presentation of club finances by our Treasurer, Greg Alberts. If you'd like to see our annual financial report ahead of time, you can download it from the Member menu -> Club Info -> FInancial Information once you log in to our website.
If you're already logged in, just follow this link to go right there:
dmwoodworkers.org/member/club-info/financial-information

Our venue, the Fred Maytag II Scout Center, is located at 6123 Scout Trail in Des Moines, off of SW 63rd just South of Park Ave and just West of the Des Moines Airport grounds. If you've been involved with the Des Moines Wood Turners (or the Boy Scouts recently) you may already be familiar with the location.

Enter through the main doors. Parking is somewhat limited near the doors, so if you have good mobility, please consider parking further from the entry to help others.

Doors open at 6:45pm for social time, and the meeting will begin at 7pm. Give yourself extra time to find your way in to our new meeting place if you haven't been over yet. 

Meeting Agenda: 

• 6:45pm - Doors open, both in person and on Zoom. Click on the Zoom link below to join the meeting.
• 7:00pm - Welcome!
• 7:05pm - Annual Meeting : Voting on 2023-2024 board members, financial review, Q&A
• 7:15pm - Introduction of Tonight’s Presenter, Randy Willey on Handsaw Restoration
• 7:20pm - Presentation
• 7:50pm - Q&A with Randy
• 8:05pm - 5 MINUTE BREAK
• 8:10pm - Show and Tell
• 8:30pm - Meeting Adjourn 

If you are a member and have not been receiving our email messages recently, please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..