Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Press Release - Toy Program 2014 - 12-8-2014

Press Release for the RCWA Toy Deliveries – Dec 6, 2014

For the 7th year in a row, the Rapid City Woodworkers Association will be donating handmade wooden toys to organizations in South Dakota.  The following organizations are on the list this year:
Rapid City:
Youth and Family Services - Prenatal to Five Headstart Programs (9 at various locations)
Black Hills Area Habitat for Humanity
Working Against Violence Inc (WAVI)
Ellsworth Air Force Base - Airmen and Family Readiness Center
The HOPE Center
LOVE Inc.
Cheyenne River Youth Project – Eagle Butte, SD
Needs Free - Sioux Falls, SD

The Toymakers in the Rapid City Woodworking Association (RCWA) have been working all year to finish the toys in time for Christmas giving.  This year, this small group of 20 Toymakers finished over 2000 handcrafted wooden toys, all of which will be delivered next week to local charitable organizations who work with children in the Black Hills and Sioux Falls areas. 

The toys made this year will be packed for delivery this Saturday morning Dec 6, 2014, in the shop at the Club for Boys and then delivered (at no cost) to 16 organizations in South Dakota.   Most of the toys will be delivered that same day.  The last group of toys will be delivered on Tuesday, Dec 9, 2014, at 9 am to the Youth and Family Services office on Plaza Drive in Rapid City.  We will also have an opportunity to pass out the toys to the children at the facility.

In 2008, the group made and gave over 400 toys for the Club for Boys, WAVI, and Benji’s House.  The number of toys produced since then has increased each year.  For those interested in numbers, a summary of the toy making progress is shown below:
Year
Toys
2008
400
2009
1260
2010
1430
2011
1620
2012
2001
2013
2271
2014
2519

11,501
The organization receiving a third of the toys is the Youth and Family Services in the Black Hills.  Almost 700 children are involved in the Youth and Family Services in the Black Hills from as far north as Spearfish and as far south as Edgemont.  The woodworkers have received very positive feedback from all organizations that have received the toys; they are excited that they have been included in our toy program.  A large number of the toys will be delivered to an organization called Needs Free in Sioux Falls.  This organization works with a large number of child-oriented programs.  This year we are giving a large number of toys to the Cheyenne River Youth Project in Eagle Butte who are conducting a Christmas Toy Drive to fill Santa’s lists for close to 1,500 kids in their area.

If anyone would like to help build and assemble toys for the 2015 Toy Program, we can always use an extra hand.  Members donate their time and equipment, but we can use donations of surplus wood or monetary donations for operating expenses.  We have moved our Toymaking shop to the Club for Boys at 320 N 4th Street St in Rapid City, SD last year.  This gives us additional opportunities to work directly with kids on woodworking projects.  Call Bob Buchanan at 348-2865 or check our website  http://www.sdwoodworker.org/ for more information:  Monetary donations can be mailed to our RCWA Treasurer, Julian Wigen at 3010 Morningview Drive in Rapid City, SD, 57702.

The mission of the RCWA is to promote woodworking safety, skills and knowledge, for the amateur, professional and student crafts person.  The RCWA was formed to meet the needs of the woodworkers in the Rapid City area.  We meet on the 2nd Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m. at the Our Redeemer Lutheran Church at 910 Wood Ave in Rapid City.  We cordially invite men and women of all ages who have an interest in woodworking to attend our meetings.  No experience is necessary for membership.  Membership dues are $25 a year.  Please come and share the experience, ideas, techniques and the mutual enjoyment of creating with wood.

The RCWA is a local chapter of the South Dakota Woodworkers Guild.  The RCWA exists for two main reasons: (1) To exchange information that will enhance the enjoyment and skills of woodworking; and (2) To promote woodworking as a hobby, as a profession, or anywhere in between.  This includes promoting woodworking safety, teaching and helping other members, enhancing the quality of life for underprivileged children of the Black Hills by making and distributing wooden toys to charitable organizations in the local area, and supporting community service organizations thru volunteer woodworking activities. 


For more information, contact Bob Buchanan at (605) 348-2865 or Rick Weisbeck at (605) 431-7375.  Or go to our website at www.sdwoodworker.org.


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Click on the link below to learn more about the Rapid City Woodworkers Association activities on the main page of the website:


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Dec 9, 2014 - Toy Deliveries to YFS


Believe it or not - Toymakers were on-site at the Club for Boys Shop at 6:00 am on Dec 9th for KOTA TV Live Spots.

click here for:
Live Coverage from KOTA TV - 6 am on Dec 9, 2014



(Click on any photo to view all photos in filmstrip style.)

Bob, Rick, Priscilla, Rollie, Julian, and Grant



 




The toys made this year were packed for delivery on Saturday morning Dec 6, 2014, in the shop at the Club for Boys.  The toys were then delivered to 16 organizations in South Dakota.  Most of the toys were delivered that same day.  

The organization receiving a third of the toys is the Youth and Family Services in the Black Hills.  Almost 700 children are involved in the Youth and Family Services in the Black Hills from as far north as Spearfish and as far south as Edgemont.  The toys for YFS were delivered on Tuesday, Dec 9, 2014, at 9 am to the Youth and Family Services office on Plaza Drive in Rapid City.  We will also had an opportunity to pass out the toys to the children at the facility.


 Our photographer, Lon Gose, was on hand to document the event with the following photos:












The Rapid City Journal photographer (Chris Huber, Journal staff) was also on the scene:




















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Click on the link below to learn more about the Rapid City Woodworkers Association activities on the main page of the website:


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Christmas Family Potluck Dinner - Dec 8, 2014

The Christmas Family Potluck will be held on Monday evening at 6 pm at 910 Wood Ave in Rapid City. Note that this is at 6 pm - earlier than normal - hope to see you there!  The church will be open by 5:30 pm for those needing to warm any food items.





A display of one each of the toys made during 2014 was available for all to see!








Per usual - there was lots of food and fellowship - smoked turkey and ham and lots of goodies to go with them.

























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Click on the link below to learn more about the Rapid City Woodworkers Association activities on the main page of the website:


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Sunday, December 7, 2014

Hit Parade of Toys - 2014

The Toymakers in the Rapid City Woodworking Association (RCWA) worked all year to finish toys in time for Christmas giving.  This year, there were 18 official toy workshops held in the shop at the Club for Boys and dozens and dozens of unofficial toy workshops held at individual member's shops.  This small group of 20 Toymakers finished over 2000 handcrafted wooden toys, all of which will be delivered next week to local charitable organizations who work with children in the Black Hills and Sioux Falls areas.  The toys that were made this year include the following toys:




TOY NO 01 - BASKETBALL GAME
TOY NO 02. ROCKING  CHAIR
TOY NO 03. TUGBOAT

TOY NO 04 - RACERS
TOY NO 04- RACERS
TOY NO 05 - CATERPILLARS
TOY NO 06 -  SEDANS  - PT CRUISER
TOY NO 06 - SEDANS - BATMAN CAR

TOY NO 06 - SEDANS - AMEBA CARS

TOY NO 06- SEDANS - LOG TRUCK
TOY NO 7 - OLDIES

TOY NO 7 - OLDIES

TOY NO 08 - BUSSES, VANS

TOY NO 08 - VANS, SOCCER VANS

TOY NO 9 - LOCOMOTIVE
TOY NO 10 - BOXES - JEWELRY

TOY NO 10 - BOXES - HEART BOX

TOY NO 10 - BOXES - CHALK BOARD

TOY NO 11 - TRACTOR
TOY NO 12 - TURTLE BANK
TOY NO 13 - CRITTER CUTOUTS IN CLOTH BAG
TOY NO 14 - RING TOSS
TOY NO 15 - CUP AND BALL GAME
TOY NO 16 - SMALL wheeled VEHICLES
TOY NO 17 - HELICOPTERS
TOY NO 18 - PADDLE GAME
TOY NO 19 - AIRPLANE
TOY NO 20 - CRAYON VANS
TOY NO 21 - DOLL CRADLE w/Quilt and Doll
TOY NO 22 - BLOCKS WITH BAG


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Click on the link below to learn more about the Rapid City Woodworkers Association activities on the main page of the website:


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