NRWG About Us

The Northern Rockies Woodworking Guild (NRWG) was founded in mid 1980s by a group of woodworkers in Montana’s Gallatin Valley. The group consists of a cross section of woodworkers with professionals, hobbyist and retirees. What brings everyone together is a love of woodworking. We meet at individual shops on a monthly basis September through June. A typical meeting will consist of a member sharing a technique or method to educate others in the group. Past activities have included making Toys for Tots, donations to the Bozeman Library and others. We have brought in professional demonstrators such as Al Stirt, Jimmy Clewes, Graeme Priddle, Clay Foster, Richard Raffan and other demonstrations such as wagon wheel making. Our members include everyone from professional turners to a horse drawn buggy restorer. We have active members from Butte to Townsend to West Yellowstone covering a 100 mile radius.

Club Mission:
The philosophy of the Northern Rockies Woodworkers Guild is to bring together people that have an interest in woodworking, regardless of skill levels, so they can learn from each other. The Guild is also dedicated to raising the level of awareness of woodworking in the community.

Membership Benefits:
• Education: Regional and national woodworking enthusiasts give regular demonstrations at our monthly meetings, and at special workshops sponsored by the club. Members are encouraged to bring samples of their own work to the meetings for our “show and tell” sessions.
• The club is an affiliated chapter of the American Association of Woodturners.
• Information Exchange: Members enjoy the opportunity to share experiences, ideas, and knowledge, and to build friendships with woodworkers in the area.
• Club Library: An excellent variety of woodworking information, such as books, magazines, videos, and CDs is available to all members.
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• Mentoring: Other members can help you with suggestions and guidance

Meetings:
The club meets the 2nd Tuesday of every month at 7 pm. Meetings are usually held in the Bozeman High School wood shop Check out the newsletters on this site for the location of the next meeting.

Dues:
Dues $20.00 annually and are collected at the beginning of the year.

Interested in Joining? Contact any of the club officers for more information or attend the next meeting.

Part of the Guild history is stored in a plastic file box. The bylaws state that newsletters must be kept in a book for archiving. Now I back them up to a CD as well as the web page and drop the CD into the box. Digging through the history files there are some interesting events and names. I am sure that some of the long time members will recognize these names.

First Meeting: This appears to be the minutes from the very first meeting of the people that were looking to organize the guild. Many items still carry forward to the way the guild is currently operating. Page 1. Page 2. Click on the page to view then use the back button on your browser to return.

Membership list 1987: There are a few names that carry over from this early list. Membership 1987

Early Newsletters: Back before the Internet was available for our communications, the monthly newsletter was a tri-folded snail mail photocopied document. In some cases the newsletter was typed and in some cases it was printed on a dot matrix printer. December 1987 Inside. December 1987 Outside. February 1990 Inside. February 1990 outside.

Financials 1993: The dues back then were $25 per year but we had monthly expenses of postage for the mailings. 1993 Financials

Membership list 1995: Here the group is growing some. List 1995

Non turning events: The group was not just turners and they tried a few other activities. Wheelwright

Turning Seminar: The group held a few turning seminars showcasing the talents of the guild members. Seminar 1994-1. Seminar 1994-2 Seminar 1994-3