Torch Club of The Fox Valley

Meeting Minutes
Torch Club of the Fox Valley
9 January 2019
Atlas Coffee Mill & Café
Notes taken by: Mary Flanagan
Attendees: Karen Bachhuber, Jim Baumbach, Sue Bennett, Nancy Bodway, Brian Bushaw, Dave Debbink, Marcia Debbink, Terri Dougherty, Mary Flanagan, Paul Freiberg, Erik Hanson, Jean Hedges, Walt Hedges, Jean Jepson, Barbara Kelly, Bill Kelly, Jude Kuenn, Cam Maurice, Mary Poulson, Richard Schoenbohm, Katie Shaw, Jan Smith, Bob Swain, Helen Thiel, Peter Thiel, Scott Valitchka, Donna Weis with guest: Stephen Weis

BUSINESS MEETING
Paul called the meeting called to order at 6:39 pm.

1. Minutes: Acceptance of meeting minutes from 12/14/18 was motioned, seconded, and approved.
2. Treasurer’s report: Balance in account as of 1/5/19 was $3858.74.
1. IATC has not sent their bill for dues yet.
2. Richard noted that we are starting to build up funds above what we decided to keep in the account as a buffer. Paul announced that the officers would be meeting at Copper Rock at College Ave. in Appleton on 1/12/2019 to discuss this and bring back ideas to vote on at our next meeting. All members are invited to attend.
3. Acceptance of the treasurer’s report was motioned, seconded, and approved.
3. Unfinished business:
1. Paul noted that Richard would be giving the presentation at the February meeting and Sue will be presenting at the March meeting. Although there are some tentative offers, April and May are still open. Please contact Walt if you are interested in giving a presentation.
2. The “Reed Taylor Award for Excellence in Human Rights Education” that was announced by Peter at our last meeting was highlighted in the last IATC newsletter. It is named after Helen Theil’s brother, a founding member of our club and a past IATC president.
3. The IATC newsletter also gave details on this year’s convention to held in Durham Chapel Hill, NC from June 20 – 23.
4. We have not yet located the $300 reimbursement that IATC’s management company, OMG, says they sent for Donna’s attendance at last year’s convention.
4. New business:
1. The officer’s terms are up in April. A nominating committee will be appointed to determine the next officers. This will also be discussed at the officer’s Saturday meeting at Copper Rock.
5. Announcements:
1. Brian announced that the Wriston Art Center Galleries (https://www.lawrence.edu/s/wriston) at Lawrence will be holding an opening reception on Friday. Exhibits include ceramics by Meghan Sullivan and art by Victoria Kue and Tshab, Hmong-American artists.
2. Mary Paulson told us that the next Noon Hour Philosophers presentation will be given by Merton Finkler, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Lawrence University. The topic is: “We Need to Change the Dynamics of the Health Care System in the Fox Valley.” The presentation will be at the First English Lutheran Church on 326 E. North Street in Appleton on Wednesday, 1/16, at noon.
3. Jan told us that the “Sharper Edge: Women working on the edge of glass” exhibit will continue through February 17 at Bergstrom Mahler Museum (https://bmmglass.com/). Contact Jan if you would like to set up a personal tour. The next Art after Dark event at the museum is called Hawaiian Ice and is on Thursday, 1/17/2019, from 5 to 7 PM. It has a Hawaiian Luau theme and craft beer will be for sale.

 

The business meeting adjourned at 6:59

PRESENTATION
At 8 PM Donna gave the following presentation on leathercraft while passing out beautiful examples of her work.

Leathercraft: The story of how I started in leathercraft and it became part of my life

Around 1944 in my Sunday school class we made a little leather coin purse and I was hooked. At the public library I read books about the historical use of leather and its value to society. Live moved on and after graduating from Macalester College in 1954, I met Len Weis while folk dancing. He was a grad student working on his PhD in Geology. I told Len about attending the Encampment for Citizenship in 1951 for 6 weeks in New York City, living in the Ethical Culture High School, and to my surprise it was where Len attended High School and his teachers were my teachers. We married in June 1955 and a few months later moved to Appleton, WI. Some months later an article in the newspaper announced the Vocational School was offering a semester class on tooling and carving on leather. I took the class and then began my life long work with leather. I kept looking for other classes in leathercraft in the Appleton area and never found any offered again.

But that’s not the end of the story. I continued to enrich my leathercraft skills at home tooling and carving. My first large project was a camera bag for my mother.

In 1957 Len encouraged me to attend Northland Recreation Leaders Lab for a week in April in Minnesota. To my surprise they offered a leathercraft class taught by Harris Jesperson. I worked with leather and sheepskin. Under his guidance I made my first pair of moccasins, and a vest. Year after year I continued to learn under Harris’s tutelage. In the early 70’s Harris asked if anyone could assist with the class. Having taken a leathercraft class and attended “Rec Lab” for many years, I volunteered. By the late 70’s Harris had moved to California and I found myself no longer the student but now the teacher. I have continued to teach leathercraft at Northland Rec Lab for the last 45 years.

Let’s take an inside look at leather. Collagen is the basic substance of all leather. The collagen is shaped like a coil forming fibrils and fibers. Leather has millions of hair-like fibers combined to form bundles, thousands per square inch. That cannot be duplicated. The collagen and fibers give leather strength, flexibility, suppleness, unusual texture and breathability. Leather can wick up, absorb and pass off moisture through pores. Leather can absorb 40% of its weight in moisture.

Different leathers have different internal structures and grains. Calf skin as low stretch, kid skin and cow hide have medium stretch and sheep skin has high stretch. The grain goes from tight to loose with tight grain having fine patterns of wrinkles visible when folded. Thigh grain is a higher quality leather.

Leather has high tensile strength and can resist a pull up to 3500 lbs. in a square inch in any direction without breaking. This is due to all of the fibers. It can elongate (stretch capacity) up to 60% of its original size and has a natural memory to return to its original shape. As the moisture content in leather increases so does its strength and stretch capacity. Few other materials exhibit these unique qualities. The combination of tensile strength and stretch capacity has a trait of conformability so it can adapt to almost any shape and form snuggly. One of my students illustrated this point when he made a belt that was too short and then proceeded to soak it and stretch it so it would fit.

Leather has high tear strength and flexibility. For example an average person flexes each shoe over the top of the ball of the foot 3500 times per day or 1,277,000 per year. Rarely is there a crack appearing in the shoe.
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In addition Donna told us about the early history of leathercraft. Secretary of State William H. Seward’s folly, the purchase of the Alaskan territory, brought a rich source of fur to the United States in 1867. Eskimos have inhabited Alaska for 10,000 years or more and survived the harsh climate by not allowing any part of an animal, fish, or fowl to go to waste.  
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Meeting adjourned at 8:45 PM.