37 days and counting! Thats right, the 2 days that I and the other Chicago
galoots look forward to more than any other in the whole year is only a
month away! The one, the only....
GALOOTAPALOOZA!
For those not familiar with Galootapalooza, this is a weekend of neanderthal
debauchery sponsored by the flatlander galoots, timed to coincide with the
annual Garfield Farm MWTCA/EAIA meet in LaFox. People come to Chicago from
all over to spend a weekend hunting for tools, learning new handtool
techniques, and enjoying the wonders of galoot camraderie.
Check out Russ Allen's Galootapalooza page for information about this years
event, and summaries of past events:
http://home.xnet.com/~rcallen/galootapalooza.htm
This year's tentative schedule is:
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Saturday morning/afternoon, August 4:
- A raid on the Kane County Flea Market. This is the largest flea in the
Midwest, often with 1500 or more dealers set up.
- A half-day Shaker boxmaking class. I will teach a class for up to 6
galoots and everyone leaves with their own set of 3 Shaker oval boxes
- Tours of local galoot interest. In the past we have toured a working
foundry and a violin maker's shop. This year we are trying to line up a
tour of a Harp factory, or possibly a trip to the Arlington Heights
Historical Society or Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio.
Saturday evening, August 4:
Satruday night brings the high point of Galootapalooza-- the barbeque. This
year the party is being hosted this year by Mike Lindgren out in Batavia
(host of Galootapalooza III, and a hell of a guy). There is not only a
great spread and free beer, but there will also be a bunch of interesting
stuff to see and do, including:
- The combination plane test drive! Following up on the successes of our
smooth-a-thon and the miter trimmer challenge, this year we are going to
assemble a fleet of combination planes for folks to play with. We will have
various vintages of #45s and #45 clones, in addition to #46, #50, #55, and
others. For comparison, we will also have wooden plows, beads and dados.
Try everything, and see what works (or doesn't) for you!
- My personal favorite event, show and tell! Bring some interesting tool or
project, and show it off (there will be a workbench to play with the toys if
you'd like). There has been some fascinating stuff brought over the years.
- Demonstrations of techniques and tools. In the past we've had
demonstrations of plane iron heat treating, making a pattern from a tool,
core box cutting, scraper preparation, and lots of other things. This year
we are planning to demonstrate saw sharpening and setting, and other topics
yet to be decided.
Sunday morning, August 5:
- Dawn breaks early over one of the best MWTCA meets of the year, in LaFox
(about 40 miles west of Chicago). This outdoor meet is large and well
attended, and always has an outstanding selection of both user and collector
tools.
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So, make your plans to attend now! If you'd like to come, please RSVP to me
and I will add you to the attendee list. We will send out periodic updates
with additional information and directions to the venues as the time gets
closer.
Ralph, Wes, Russ, and Mike (the Official Galootapalooza VI Central
Committee)
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