Bemidji Woodcarvers Club to host open house May 16

Woodcarving is still being taught in Bemidji, and the Bemidji Woodcarvers Club will put that tradition in public view from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 16, at the Bemidji Senior Center, 216 Third St. NW. The open house will give visitors a chance to see carvings up close and learn how the club keeps a hands-on local craft alive.

The club meets every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to noon at the senior center and is open to anyone interested. Lakeland PBS described the group as filled with seasoned carvers, and club vice president Frank Bera said in 2019 that the membership included youth carvers and about 12 homeschoolers at the time. That mix points to a club that is not only preserving a regional skill, but also trying to recruit younger makers who may never have tried carving before.

Member Les Sanders has helped teach carving safety, wood grain and techniques, the fundamentals that turn a block of wood into a finished piece. Those are practical lessons, but they are also cultural ones. In a community where many traditional skills fade when fewer people learn them at home, the club’s weekly schedule gives Bemidji a place where the craft can still be passed from one generation to the next.

A listing in Woodcarving Illustrated places the Bemidji Wood Carvers Club in Bemidji at 807 3rd St. SE and includes the phone number 218-444-6269, underscoring the club’s continuing presence in the local carving community. For Beltrami County, the open house is more than a display of finished work. It is a test of whether an old trade can keep finding new hands.