Brown County
Woodworking Club
Scott Mills, Bill Ziegler, and Jim Beck prepare beams for the new, outdoor structure at Brown County Music Center.
The newest masterpiece from a group of Brown County artisans whose tools include chisels, chainsaws, and Paul Bunyan-sized hammers, will soon be on display outside the Brown County Music Center: a 700-square-foot timber frame pavilion.
The dozens of artists who hand-crafted it will remain largely anonymous. Their intricate creation will be given to the Music Center. Payment comes through the knowledge that they contributed to their community in a way that visitors and their own grandchildren can enjoy for years to come.
The Brown County Woodworking Club has no officers and no dues, simply calling itself a group of“ sharing and caring woodworkers.” The group meets monthly for presentations on woodworking techniques, such as steam bending or marquetry, or to tour a woodworking shop. Subgroups meet separately to craft projects including bowls turned
16 Our Brown County • Nov./ Dec. 2024
~ story and photos by Chrissy Alspaugh
on a lathe and towering timber frame structures. The artisans have found numerous beneficiaries for their finished pieces.
The Village Wood Turners, the group that specializes in creating wooden projects on a spinning lathe, has donated bowls to the Mother’ s Cupboard charity auction. Their current service project is creating wooden wig stands for cancer patients, said member Don Housman.
The timber framing group built and donated a shelter at the Grandview Cemetery. In 2022, the group constructed, donated, and auctioned a 16-by-24-foot“ cruck” structure that yielded $ 45,000 for Brown County Indiana Habitat for Humanity.
The new pavilion structure the club is finishing for the Brown County Music Center promises to help the facility increase revenue by creating a new space for a beer garden during performances, intimate after-show parties, and weddings or