West Bay Woodturners preview March 18 meeting, recap February activities

West Bay Woodturners’ March 2026 newsletter lays out a compact March 18 program that centers on the club’s President’s Challenge, "Spheres or Eggs," and two demonstrations tied to that theme. The newsletter names Edgar Whipple and Vic Mitnick as the featured demonstrators and sets the meeting for Wednesday, March 18, 2026 at 7pm in the second floor meeting room at Bridges Community Church, 625 Magdalena Ave, Los Altos, CA 94024.

The March 18 agenda published under the newsletter’s "Next Meeting" block lists introductions of guests and new members, a demonstration by Edgar Whipple titled "Egg and Cup" with explicit techniques of roughing with a skew and back hollowing end grain, a program break, reminders and updates, a review of President’s Challenge items, and Show & Tell. The President’s Challenge heading is printed exactly as "President’s Challenge - Spheres or Eggs."

Edgar Whipple signs the newsletter as President and offers a wry, practical note about preparing for his demo: "I am also glad that the warm weather has returned at least for now, because working in an unheated garage is unpleasant, and my face mask fogs up, which is dangerous. I will be practicing and preparing for my demonstration, ‘Egg and Cup’, at the 18 March 2026 meeting." The newsletter presents Whipple’s remarks verbatim and closes that section with "– Edgar Whipple, President."

The newsletter also promotes a separate turning demo by Vic Mitnick listed under the heading "Demonstration – Vic Mitnick Turning a Sphere." Two explicit fragments describe Vic’s portion: "Vic is showing live centers for woodturning spheres" and "Vic Mitnick explains how to turn a sphere [...]" Those lines link directly to the club’s "Spheres or Eggs" challenge and signal that sphere techniques and live centers will be on display at a future meeting.

Announcements in the March bulletin carry logistic and community news. Members are reminded to "See Jim Koren’s e-mail of February 5, 2026 to sign up for the Derek Weidman demonstration on March 15, 2026 at Maker Nexus from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM." Angela Gunn is credited in the announcements for noting that "SVW is collecting wig stands for donation to cancer care point. A representative from that organization will be at the next SVW meeting on March 4, 2026 to receive them, so you still have time to turn one (or more!)." Joe Martinka is requesting members to sign up to present their favorite finish "not walnut oil or wipe on poly" with details in Joe’s February 1, 2026 email.

The newsletter reminds members of club resources: "A large woodturning and carving library is available to WBW members as part of our partnership with the Santa Clara Valley Carvers. Browse the online catalog, reserve a book or two, and pick them up at our next meeting. Some books feature galleries for inspiration, and some describe hands-on turning techniques." The March issue also recaps the February 18 meeting under "Last Meeting Review" with notes by Laura Rhodes and pictures by Roman Chernikov and Angela Gunn, and an announcements line stating "No guests were in attendance."

The March newsletter carries the club’s purpose statement, "Promote woodturning education and woodturning as an art form," and reiterates that "West Bay Woodturners Newsletter is a monthly update on the club activities. This free resource is available to beginner and professional woodturners." The March 18 program will include a review of the President’s Challenge items and hands-on demonstrations that explicitly address both spheres and eggs.