FORP 015 – Fellowship and Finale

There is no doubt that the highlight of the week was the many levels and contexts for the fellowship of the instructors and participants.  FORP 2015 reconvened a core of FORP 2013 fanboys for another run at the prize, and my time spent strengthening friendships and just having plain old fun with Jameel Abraham, Bo Childs, Jeff Miller, Will Myers, Raney Nelson, and Chris Schwarz goes straight into the memory book.

This posse was augmented by John Hoffman and my Virtuoso collaborator Narayan Nayar, making the company of companionship darned near perfect.  At one point in the week Jameel  asked us all at dinner whether anyone would be willing to participate if it ever happened again.  Every hand at the table was raised.

Equally delightful was the time spent with the subscribers, coming from all around the continent, with the closest being only a few miles from his Atlanta home, and the farthest from home having driven from the Pacific Northwest.  Of course the fellowship for a remarkable endeavor was the drawing card; any one of the participants could have probably built exactly the same bench at home alone or with some buddies to help with moving the mass.  But to engage in the same activities with two dozen other fanatics was irresistible.

During the week Chris and John Hoffman were at the south end of the room building a bench and helping any and all who called; I was on the north end of the room ensconced between Steve, Walter, and Joe.  The grouping was representative of the gathering; one retired guy with a bum hip, one software developer, one facilities manager, and one anesthesiologist.

Raney, Will, and Jeff were peripatetic throughout the week, doing whatever needed to be done, helping whoever asked for it.  Jameel and Bo ran the endeavor from behind the scenes such that it appeared to be smooth running flawless operation, but we all knew how much effort it took to make it seem effortless.  Since I was limited in my strength and mobility I was mostly a cheerleader and adviser, providing instruction and demonstration as needed.  One thing I could do without hindrance was sharpen, so I set up my sharpening station and invited anyone who needed something sharpened to drop it off.  I’m not sure how many plane irons of chisels I sharpened, but it was a bunch.

I was also able to loan out many of my tools when there was a need.  I brought my timber framing tool box, and the scale of the work was more akin to that skilled trade than furniture making.

During the week there were two scheduled social events, the first being a group dinner at Ron Brese’s house, the second being a barbecue in the Wyatt Childs workshop we were occupying for the week.  The former allowed us to have a great meal under the faithful hospitality ministrations of the Breses, a bull session in Ron’s pane-making studio, and the opportunity to help out one of the company who inadvertently maneuvered his rental car into the ditch.

At the second we were able to visit with a FORP 2013 alumnus and listen to the musical interludes provided by Joe’s lovely daughter, and to make the acquaintance of many family and friends of the group.

By Friday lunch the work was winding down, and the vans and trucks started getting in the queue to load up.  Once again this was a group effort as the task of loading a 450 pound bench and the accompanying hundreds of pound of tools for each person was not inconsiderable.  As the crowd thinned out I departed late Friday afternoon, needing to get home and resume many projects in the barn.  A few hearty souls stayed to work on their benches on Saturday, and then the event was concluded.