President’s Message – July/Aug 1997

It’s Tuesday, the 22nd of July, and I’m sitting in the tree-surrounded amphitheater at Camp Brotherhood listening to the sounds of our Tenth Annual Symposium. The purposeful whir and scream of grinders and saws blend with the rhythmical cadence of hammer and chisel at this distance from the work field. The auditory composition is complex, yet unified in its relentless pulse.

I feel so charged, even at this point in our event. The excitement of new sculpture emerging, more stone and learning opportunities everywhere clearly reveal another successful symposium.

I wish to thank each of you who attended for what you have contributed I also would like to thank the faculty, the workshop leaders, the lecturers, the administrative team, the work study force, the committee and director for a wonderful event.

This year we are creating a video tape documenting this symposium. The purpose is to describe what we do, how we do it, and who we are in our symposia. The tape will be a valuable means to promote future events, solicit support and to provide a personal recording of a meaningful event.

I ask for your support in this project by pre-purchasing and ordering the tape and/or contributing to its production costs. Most of the financial support for this comes from an outside contribution dedicated to a project such as this. However, more is needed to pay for its completion.

As board members, we seek more interactive support from our membership. Each of you is welcome to attend our board meetings. We ask for input on issues at hand, projects in motion, or new ideas and proposals you might have.

Our next event on the horizon is the third annual Vancouver Island Stone Sculptors Symposium. This extraordinary opportunity at beautiful Lake Cowichan is five days of instruction, stone, camaraderie and exceptional food. A special thanks to Sandra Bilawich and Daniel Cline for all the planning and work they have done to make this available to all of us.

I’ll see you there.

Rich Hestekind