Woodworkers with warm hearts

The evening was also marked momentous, as the association handed over the last two of five hand-made chalk board canvasses to the Muriel Brand School for disabled children, in Brakpan.

Bill Parrack adopted the school as his community project when he was chairman of ERWA in 2006, and hasn’t stopped associating with it since.

Bill and four other members of the association, Stan Lewis, Errol Dollenberg, Denis Lock and chairman André Oosthuizen, worked together in constructing this project.

The canvas frame is fabricated of wood and has a black board on the one side and a white board on the other.

Throughout the years, the association has also made educational toys and equipment for the school.

Bev Porter, a teacher at Muriel Brand School, represented the school in thanking the “hout oomies”, as they are known to the pupils.

“Angels come in all shapes and sizes and the members of ERWA are proof of that,” said Bev.

Bill said: “I never chose Muriel Brand, Muriel Brand chose me.”

“Bev has become a friend to me – it has been a happy seven years.”

The rest of the meeting featured a talk by Paul Roberts, chairman of the Pretoria Woodworkers Association, a fun woodworking short film and a demonstration of some new woodworking tools on the market.

Founder member of ERWA Georg Stroebel received an Outstanding Contribution Award for the successful organising of the year’s Woodworkers’ Fair.

Sawdust will again be flying vigorously in the new year, with meetings every third Wednesday of the month.

The association is always looking for new members to join its ranks, even those with no experience.

If you have a passion for making beautiful crafts, contact Stroebel on 082 497 5065.

For more photo’s, click on: www.looklocal.co.za/looklocal/content/en/benoni/benoni-galleries?oid=7973246&sn=Detail&pid=40&East-Rand-Woodworkers-Association-year-end-meeting