GG's,

Galootapalooza IV was great!

Let me start by thanking Wes and Lisa Groot for putting me up in their
beautiful home for the weekend.  I'd also like the thank Ralph Brendler and
his family for hosting the Shaker Boxmaking class, and, of course, Jerry
Serviss and his family for hosting the evening activities.  I hope that
Jerry's neighbors haven't filed any complaints about heat treating metals in
the driveway.

I started out for Chicago on Friday morning and made a few stops at antique
malls, with my only find being an $18 #1.  Of course, that's a Millers Falls
#1 cigar shaped spokeshave.  Unfortunately, the mall owner would NOT carry
it out to my car.  I arrived at Wes' house in time for a beer and a power
outage.  Fortunately, the restaurant's power was on, and the ribs were
great.  After eating we visited what became Gil's favorite store, and a
Border's Bookstore before heading to Wes' now-power home for a tour of his
basement.  A good time.

On Saturday morning we traveled to the ABC Foundry and were all very
impressed by the operation, owners, wood shop, and men's restroom.  From
there I traveled to Ralph's house for the Shaker boxmaking class.  As others
have pointed out, making a Shaker Box with (mostly) Galoot tools is not only
possible, but very enjoyable.  Of course, I think that spending five hours
with Ralph and Jerry watching paint dry would be very enjoyable - they're
both way cool guys.  After the class, I traveled to Jerry's house for the
evening events.  The Galoots who had gone to the Flea Market looked a little
like the Light Brigade must have, after it's charge at Balaclava.  The
pickings were none too good, but Mark was definitely the recipient of the
"Gil" trophy.  Good food, good drink, and good company re-energized the
group, and conversations ranged from Elm tree blight to the occupation of
Charlie Nunemaker's ancestors (don't ask).  Galoots are an eclectic lot.
The demo's were great, and much information was passed on from Galoot to
Galoot.  After following Wes back to his home through the more scenic parts
of Chicago it was time for bed and an early start to the M-WTCA meet.

What can I say about an M-WTCA meet that hasn't already been said.  If
you've been to one, you know what I mean.  If you haven't been to one, then
it would be like trying to describe color to a blind man.  Even though my
haul for the day was only four assorted chisels ($8), I did help several of
the vendors make their sales quotas by injecting the occasional "You can't
pass that one up" or "You know Wes, you really need that plane."  I did pass
on a beautiful Stanley 603 (Bedrock smoother) with a sticker price of $130,
but I've only spent a few hours since suffering from not-buyers remorse.
I'll be okay soon, really.

After the meet I made the trip back home without incident or rust sighting.
Seventy-two hours and 840 miles later, all that I can say is that a Galoot's
Life is Good.

Joe Palazzolo
Fort Wayne, Indiana.

So, who's going to the South Whitley meet on the 22nd?