Chapter Stalwarts - Chicago Woodturners
Roger & Julie Basrak
Stalwart: “a loyal, reliable, and hardworking supporter or participant in an organization or team”.
Roger and Julie Basrak joined the Chicago Woodturners in 2001 and from the beginning jumped right in to help with various projects that “just needed doing”. Roger joined first and they upgraded their membership within just a few months to a family membership. Julie & Roger both chose careers in the education field. Roger had all the contacts needed to set up demonstrations at various high schools to inspire young woodturners. Roger’s booming voice was often heard as he announced the latest schedule. Julie became the membership chairperson (with complete support from Roger) back in November, 2010.
When CWT decided to host our first Turn On! Chicago symposium it was no surprise that Roger and Julie volunteered to assist with the planning. After the success of Turn On! Chicago, Roger and Julie were first in line when we formed the educational committee and helped to spearhead our participation in not only high school shop classes at Palatine High School, and Hoffman Estates High School, but also were instrumental in CWT being featured artists for the Highland Park High School Focus on the Arts program and the sister program at Stevenson High School which exposed literally hundreds of teenagers to the art of woodturning through hands on pen turning. Roger ordered the pen kits, prepared blanks and recruited and coordinated the volunteers for all of these events. They were both present and available for set up and tear down for each event.
Roger and Julie didn’t stop there. As membership coordinator, Julie (and Roger) were the first people any visitor saw as they came to the CWT monthly meeting. They spent endless hours preparing nametags, sending renewal notices and reminder notes to those who had somehow dropped off their memberships. Roger and Julie are always available to help when the club held all day demonstrations, club picnics, holiday parties, Empty Bowls events, Pens for Troops events and booth sitting for SOFA Chicago. They literally do it all.
When attending Regional and/or national Symposia you will almost certainly find Julie helping out in some manner or another (registration, instant gallery, acting as a personal guide) and Roger has been known to help out with a video camera or two and even offer chauffer services.
The Chicago Woodturners are very, very thankful to have members as dedicated to promoting the art and craft of woodturning as Roger and Julie Basrak. They represent the true meaning of Stalwart and are two of the silent heroes that support not just CWT but the woodturning world in general. All of the Chicago Woodturners are happy to nominate Roger and Julie Basrak as club Stalwarts.
Don McCloskey
Don has been an active member of the chapter since 1999 and in 2021 was awarded the status of Lifetime Member for his 20+ years of contributions to the Chicago Woodturners and support of its community outreach activities.
Don has been the champion of Pens-for-Troops and has been dedicated to this program where he has collected in excess of 10,000 pens for our troops. He is also a key organizer for Empty Bowls, participates in all club community outreach programs, maintained all the tools and lathes owned by the club, has been on the organizing committee for the Turn-on-Chicago symposium since 2008, and is always willing to help with any club related activity. Don is the definition of a Stalwart.