I love when the Woodworking Shows come to Tampa. It’s a great opportunity to see my friend and fellow Wood Magazine contributor Jim Heavey (and, Jim, yes, you are welcome back to the house for more Jambalaya, if you are up for it!), sit in on some awesome classes and get hands-on time with some great tools.

This year, there is going to be something else to look forward to – the first ever Florida meet-up for the Modern Woodworkers Association. With online woodworking now a huge deal, the MWA is a place for us all to hang out virtually… but, it’s always good to get folks together in person to talk, shake hands and swap some tall shop tales.

This year, the Woodworking Show at the Tampa Fairgrounds is held the weekend of March 16 – 18. I plan on being there on Saturday, March 17. Since that Saturday is St. Patrick’s Day, I’m sure most of you would like to get your Irish on at a St. Patrick’s Day celebration, so we’ll make the meet up from about 10 – 3.  I won’t be sporting any green, but I will be wearing my Modern Woodworkers Association t-shirt I got last October, so I should be easy to find. I will look a lot like the guy in this photo:

While we won’t have a formal ‘agenda’ for this meeting, it should give us a good opportunity to get together. Since the St. Petersburg Woodcrafters’ Guild will have a table at the show, this might not be a bad meeting spot around noon…

In the meantime, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone next month!