Hi, all,
As I was finishing some last minute shopping on Wednesday, I got a call from a pretty well-known reporter in our area. He said their station was planning to cover what he called "Black Friday" - the feeding frenzy of shopping on the Friday after Thanksgiving. He wanted a story about some folks who relax that day and work on making presents, and someone had given him my name (I forgot to ask who). I agreed, so he and a photographer showed up at my shop about 10:00 Friday morning, filmed me working on a box, fitting a lid, hollowing, sanding, etc. The reporter asked a lot of interested and reasonably intelligent questions about the craft, and interviewed me about who might be getting presents I made this year. He finished by having me turn in the background while he held up a piece of burl, and explained that while it might not look like much to most folks, it like gold to a turner. He then said that with some time and talent, it can turn into this - and showed a nice close-up of a boxelder burl box with a walnut finial.
It ran on the 6:00 news, following the usual show of idiots who camped out at Wal-mart to get the loss-leader deal on some new toy. The edited it down to about 2 minutes, but it was a really nice piece, showed my work well, and even said my name correctly.
And, to top it all off, the reporter told me he had no idea turners liked burls. He's got 20 acres of trees in the nearby lakes country, and lots of burls. I'm to get back to him if I would like to come get some!
So, in addition to good food and family, I had a pretty outstanding holiday. Hope yours was fun, too!
Ron Williams Minn-Dak Woodturners Moorhead, MN