{"id":534,"date":"2016-04-11T19:38:14","date_gmt":"2016-04-11T19:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.dmwoodturners.com\/?page_id=534"},"modified":"2026-09-13T12:26:48","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T17:26:48","slug":"chapter-history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.dmwoodturners.com\/?page_id=534","title":{"rendered":"Chapter History"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On April 14, 2001, four current Chapter members signed an application to AAW to form the Des Moines Woodturners chapter. They were Mike Nieters, President; John Hetherington, V.P.; Jerry Selover, Secretary; and Keith Sawyers, Treasurer. Ten days later Mike received a letter from AAW Secretary Norm Hinman welcoming the Des Moines Woodturners as the 158th Chapter of the American Association of Woodturners.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Today, there are approximately 350 AAW Chapters around the world with the majority in North America. Since our inception we\u2019ve brought in some of the biggest names in woodturning (Bob Rosand,, Bonnie Klein, Nick Cook, Steve Sinner, Jimmy Clewes, and Trent Bosch ) to provide seminars & workshops. We\u2019ve also been fortunate to have our local pros share their talents with us at our monthly meetings. Rob Wallace and Brian Simmons, who have also demonstrated on the national stage, have regularly shared their woodturning skills and knowledge with us along with a host of other accomplished Chapter members. Our thanks to all who\u2019ve shared their woodturning experience over the years. We hope more members consider sharing by demonstrating and serving our membership in the future.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Photos from 2001 and 2003 demonstrations and displays can be seen on the last page of the April 2016 Newsletter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

CHAPTER TIMELINE
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April 24, 2001 \u2013 Formal acknowledgement of Des Moines Woodturners as a Chapter acceptance by AAW. Officers signing Chapter application were Mike Nieters, President; John Hetherington, VP; Jerry Selover, Secretary; Keith Sawyers; Treasurer. All remain current 2016 Des Moines Woodturners and AAW Chapter members.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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January 2007 \u2013 Chuck Dowler assumes office of Chapter President and develops Basic Woodturning Classes.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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January 2012 – Dave Yearian assumes office of Chapter President<\/strong><\/p>\n

January 2013 \u2013 Paul Miller assumes office of Chapter President<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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May 1, 2013 \u2013 Our Chapter started operating as an autonomous group.<\/strong>
\n Chapter Officers: Paul Miller, President; Dick Meuler, VP; Donna Byers, Secretary; Jim Hogue, Treasurer<\/strong><\/p>\n

January 7, 2014 \u2013 Chapter incorporates as Des Moines Woodturners Inc., an Iowa Non-Profit Corporation<\/strong>
\n Chapter\/Corporate Officers: Paul Miller, President; Dick Meuler, VP; Donna Byers, Secretary; Jim Hogue, Treasurer. Board members: Jack Rolison, Program Chair; Rob Beattie, Education\/Safety Chair.<\/strong><\/p>\n

January 9, 2014 \u2013 Received Federal ID Number for Des Moines Woodturners Inc.<\/strong><\/p>\n

January 2015 \u2013 Dick Meuler assumes office of Chapter President<\/strong>
\n Chapter\/Corporate Officers: Dick Meuler, President; Daniel Henderson, VP; Donna Byers, Secretary; Jim Hogue, Treasurer. Board Members: Jack Rolison, Program Chair; Rob Beattie, Education\/Safety Chair.<\/strong><\/p>\n

February 3, 2015 \u2013IRS letter of determination issued recognizing Des Moines Woodturners Inc. as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization retroactive to date of incorporation, January 7, 2014.<\/strong><\/p>\n

January 2016 \u2013 While not a non-profit requirement, Chapter applied for and received Iowa Sales Tax Permit.<\/strong><\/p>\n

April 16, 2016 \u2013 Chapter celebrates the 15th birthday of Chapter founding.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

January 2017 – Chapter elects Chapter\/Corporate Officers: Dick Meuler, President; Mike Lustig, VP\/President Elect; Donna Byers, Secretary; Tom Baker, Treasurer. Board Members: Jack Rolison, Program Chair; Rob Beattie, Education\/Safety Chair.<\/strong><\/p>\n

January 2018 – Chapter elects Chapter\/Corporate Officers: Mike Lustig, President; Open, Vice President; Tom Baker, Treasurer; Tim Morris, Secretary; Rob Beattie, Education\/Safety; Tom Whalley, Programs<\/strong><\/p>\n

January 2019 –\u00a0Chapter elects Chapter\/Corporate Officers: Tom Whalley, President; Will Zitterich, Vice President; Tom Baker, Treasurer; Donna Byers, Secretary; Rob Beattie, Education\/Safety; Dave Yearian, Programs<\/strong><\/p>\n

January 2020 –\u00a0Chapter elects Chapter\/Corporate Officers: Tom Whalley, President; Will Zitterich, Vice President; Tom Baker, Treasurer; Donna Byers, Secretary; Jim Reynolds, Tad Tadlock, Stan Merrell, At Large Directors<\/strong><\/p>\n

January 2021 –\u00a0Chapter elects Chapter\/Corporate Officers: Tom Whalley, President; Jim Reynolds, Vice President; Tom Baker, Treasurer; Will Zitterich; Secretary, Tad Tadlock, Education and Programs; Dan Carlson, Membership; Donna Byers, Bill Burchett, At Large Directors<\/strong><\/p>\n

May 2023 – The chapter moves it’s meeting location to Valley West Mall when our former location at the Woodsmith Store, is sold to the Horizons Events Center.<\/strong><\/p>\n

September 2026 – The chapter moves it’s meeting location to 1901 Bell Avenue in Des Moines.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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On April 14, 2001, four current Chapter members signed an application to AAW to form the Des Moines Woodturners chapter. They were Mike Nieters, President; John Hetherington, V.P.; Jerry Selover, Secretary; and Keith Sawyers, Treasurer. Ten days later Mike received … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":532,"menu_order":2,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-534","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmwoodturners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/534","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmwoodturners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmwoodturners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmwoodturners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmwoodturners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=534"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmwoodturners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/534\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2951,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmwoodturners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/534\/revisions\/2951"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dmwoodturners.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dmwoodturners.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=534"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}