Hello David,

Here's our latest progress report on the big move!

We are off to a good start on donations to help us realize the potential of the full $100,000 matching grant we've received. A $10,000 donation came in through our Go Fund Me effort, along with a number of smaller donations for a total of just over $14,000 in two weeks. With enough additional donations to claim the full $100,000 matching grant, we will be able to move into our new building debt free and begin the programs that will be critical to the Plumier Foundation's successful future. Critical to our mission from the start is the ability to accommodate “residencies” and long term students. Matching this grant will get us off to a leaping start in Saltsburg with the potential to bring someone on in this capacity the first year. Kelsey Watson stands as a good example of what can happen with long term students that morph into exceptional teachers and practitioners that produce exquisite objects.

For those who might have missed our previous note, the donor wants the matching grant campaign to accommodate both end of the year giving and beginning of the year giving, so we are setting a deadline of December 31 which will include commitments for the first quarter of 2025 toward the match as well. If you have the ability to help, there's no better time to give than when your gift is doubled. The timing of your help is critical because the ideal time to get our new shop set up right is at the beginning. Keep in mind, we are a 501(C)3, so donations are tax deductible.

Progress on the Saltsburg building is impressive, and volunteers continue to help out. So far, volunteers have painted the siding, run a jackhammer, milled and painted window trim, dug ditches, run forklifts, packed boxes, unloaded trucks, and taken on a number of other tasks. We’ve also had people donate the use of equipment, such as the forklift. The transportation of equipment and fixtures, three semi-truck loads, was also covered by a donation, as was the temporary storage of our equipment.

We can’t begin to estimate the savings from these generous acts, nor can we fully express our gratitude for them. Whether it’s one of those big items or simply someone seeing Chuck folding a tarp and stopping their car to get out and help, it all means a lot to us.

Our volunteers have been hard it, putting in many hours off of the books. Matt Clemens traveled out from Cincinnati to get behind a jack hammer (not shown) and dig trenches. He’s made two trips out and is scheduled to come back again. Geoff Saver has become a regular, spending three days most weeks carrying out various tasks. Above Geoff is milling the “Boral” into window frames. Boral is a composit material that combines Portand cement, fly ash, and cellulose to give a material that mimics wood but doesn’t rot and also doesn’t stretch like its plastic counterparts.

Becky Lindow has been doing a lot of painting. Because of the hours she’s put in, Geoff was able to go straight from milling the pieces to assembly. The frames are now all ready for installation and sitting with the windows waiting to be installed.

Sometimes certain sights just demand a picture. Above on the left is the crawlspace for the scissor truss system we used on the new addition. The central section will be left open to provide access for future repairs.

On the right above is the original building’s attic. The headroom up there is 6 feet 5 inches which will provide an exceptional space for storage as it runs down the entire 80 foot length of the building.

It’s interesting to compare, side by side, the two construction techniques, done174 years apart.

Jack Ruebel, a Saltsburg resident, found a local friend willing to loan us his forklift. Jack took three days off to operate it as we unloaded the equipment from the last semi load from Port Chester, and also unloaded the siding and the wood flooring for the addition . Here the forklift is shown lifting the wood flooring to the second floor. Jack’s not shown as he didn’t just run the forklift, but also lent a hand in unloading and carrying the material as well.

Since we had the forklift for unloading the equipment from Port Chester, we scheduled delivery of both the siding for the addition and the red oak flooring for around the same time. The siding came from Frosty Hollow Hardwoods. It's shiplapped hemlock that’s 12” wide. Hemlock is well known regionally for its durability, lasting for well over a century with no treatment, and has long been a favorite in the region for building barns and outbuildings. Also, it fits well with the historic nature of the building. The Frosty Hollow saw mill is about 10 miles from Saltsburg and is noted locally for providing all sorts of molding and sidings as well as lumber for furniture.

Allegheny Mountain Hardwood Flooring made the live-sawn red oak flooring. It’s a division of Hickman Woods, a regional sawmill now run by the third generation of its founding family. Hickman got a big boost in its early years by providing quarter sawn oak to Stickley Furniture.

We’ve closed the books on our Port Chester location, and the move out went well. Perhaps the most challenging piece we had to load and unload was the stack of mahogany and pear wood which required three pallets put together to support its 12 foot length. Thankfully we had Darrel, a licensed forklift operator from Jax Chemical, to help us load the truck in Port Chester. It took several hands to get the wood down the hallway and onto the truck. Here Bill Ruprecht and Anthony Nappi help Darrel get it safely onto the forklift while I stand off to the side a safe distance taking the picture.

We also took with us a piece of poplar from Bill’s yard that is about 40” in diameter.

We wrapped everything in case of rain while loading or unloading. Of course, this ensured that it wouldn’t rain.

For the heavier and larger machines and benches, we made pallets of hardwood skids with dimensional lumber across them. The hardwood 4x4’s were donated by Roger Shaffer who runs a sawmill in Lake Ariel, PA.

Sometimes it takes a bit of improvisation. The Y36 “Snowflake” bandsaw had to have the upper wheel and guard removed in order to get it out of the door and into the new shop. With a regretable lack of foresight, we sent all of our materials out in the second semi load, leaving us with no steel with which to make the necessary wheel puller. What we did have in ample supply was 2x4’s. So we sank a 1/2”-13 nut into the side of a 2x4 and made the crude puller above. I’ll admit, we were a bit surprised when it worked.

Frank Dorion, an oft seen face in Port Chester, came down just before it was all packed up to see the place one last time. Frank has been an ever-present help along the way, and at 1 1/2 hours away he was one of our more frequent visitors. Besides helping us with various things around the shop he’s been a constant help in editing letters and documents, which we hope he’ll continue to do despite the added distance.

The size of the semi-truck next to the building helps put things into perspective. We had three full semi loads leave Port Chester, and the Saltsburg location offers over double the space. Still, one wonders on seeing this picture how it will all fit.

With plenty of hands on site, unloading went smoothly with Jack Ruebel once again handling the fork lift. As with the first two truckloads, there was no damage, and all went well. Nonetheless, everyone breathed a bit more easily when everything was on the ground and under cover.

Construction continues at an impressive speed in Saltsburg. In the next couple of weeks we should see windows installed, siding started, the roofing on the addition done along with the facia and soffit. At the same time the electrical work will continue and insulation is not far off. Things will appear to change quickly as all this work is rapidly completed. We will try to keep you fully updated on these developments.

At the risk of being overly repetitious, I need to mention again the matching grant of $100,000. Failing to match this grant would be the loss of a wonderful opportunity. If we can get the grant matched, we will move into our new building without debt. Not having a mortgage would let us immediately begin our mission of having a scholarship fund and long term students. Please give if you are able. Your gift will help us create a bright future for ornamental turning and also enhance the lives of talented craftspeople and the crafts they pursue.

Support Ornamental Turning, Support Plumier. You can donate through the Join Us! page on our website, Donate Here.

We have also set up a Go Fund Me page which accepts donations of any size with more flexibility. It can be found here, Donate Through Go Fund Me.

A check sent to the address below is also a welcomed form of donation.

For more information on the location and building, have a look at the plan here: New Plumier Home!

If you have questions, give me a call at (570) 352-7137 or email me at david@plumier.org. I'm looking forward to sharing more information on our project with you as we progress.

Sincerely,

David Lindow