Craft Supplies USA names veteran scholarship recipient Luke Bess
Luke Bess is turning duck calls at home now, and Craft Supplies USA’s veteran scholarship gives him a path to classes, travel help, and a stronger foothold in woodturning.
Cpl. Luke Bess, USMC, is the newest veteran scholarship recipient named by Craft Supplies USA, and his profile lands on a detail woodturners will recognize right away: he is already in the shop, working on duck calls. That makes this more than a welcome announcement. It is a story about a veteran using woodturning to build skill, routine, and a place in the craft.
Craft Supplies USA says its Veteran Scholarship Program is designed to honor and empower veterans by sending selected applicants to Woodturning 101 or 201 at the Dale L. Nish School of Woodturning. The company says airfare and hotel accommodations can be provided, which turns the scholarship into something practical, not symbolic. It lowers the cost of entry for a veteran who may already have the discipline and shop habits to thrive at the lathe, but still needs instruction, equipment access, and time with experienced teachers.
That instruction path is specific. The Dale L. Nish School of Woodturning is in Provo, Utah, about 40 minutes south of Salt Lake City. Craft Supplies USA listed a Woodturning 101 class with Stan Record for June 22-26, 2026, and a Woodturning 201 class with Stan Record for August 5-7, 2026. The company says 101 focuses on fundamental tool use, sharpening, and technique, while 201 is more advanced and meant for students who have already built basic tool proficiency. For a turner like Bess, the scholarship does not just open a seat in a classroom. It opens a clear next step.
The program is also built like a pipeline. Craft Supplies USA says recipients are selected throughout the year and reviewed regularly, and its scholarship archive has already included Kevin Raney, Gerald Headley, Seth Stallings, Ryan Groves, and Greg Fries. The company also says 10% of proceeds from every Camo Woodturners Smock goes directly to funding the scholarship, tying a product line to the same veteran pathway. Even the game call kits in its catalog fit the picture, since the company describes them as designed for turning with a standard pen mandrel system, a natural match for the kind of small, precise work Bess is already doing at home.
For woodturning, that matters because scholarships like this do more than send one person to class. They connect a veteran’s shop time, a specialty project like duck calls, and a school bench in Provo into one path forward.
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