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Mentoring in the Guild takes many forms. Everything from a brief conversation or email on a particular technique to a full-blown cooperative effort to build an entire piece. Most mentoring occurs informally among members. However, the Mentor Program provides an easy way, especially for new members, to get involved in mentoring. Members listed on the Mentor Program page of this website have expressed a willingness to help other members in a variety of ways. 
The Perpetual Novice returns to provide a public service. Previous Perpetual Novice articles have attempted to look at the trials and errors of learning the woodworking craft with a bit of humor. This one is different in that it is serious. I’ve been surprised of late to see the “wrong” alcohols in a number of people’s shops. I’ve known about this for a long time and assumed it was general knowledge, but since it doesn’t seem to be, allow me this one time to slip into lecture mode.
BULLETIN: Personal Protective Equipment in Dire Need
Recently, an email was sent to all EMGW guild members regarding the need for personal protective equipment at local hospitals. The purpose of this message is to reach out to other viewers of this website who are not necessarily the guild members who received that email. We recommended that any PPE (face masks, especially N95, nitrile gloves, gowns, and face shields that you have no immediate need to call your local Board of Health, Primary Care Provider’s office, Fire Department (they usually run the EMS service), or nearest hospital and ask where/how you can donate. Some will accept packages that are opened so don’t let that stop you.
To emphasize that request, we received an unsolicited email from Michael Coughlin, a mental health clinician working in several Boston EDs with an urgent request for PPEs, especially, N95 masks and clear (non-mesh) face shields for Carney Hospital in Dorchester. It was a heart-wrenching email for concern for the understaffed and under-equipped healthcare workers. They are in such need, someone will come to pick up whatever you can offer that are in reasonably good shape. (For example, some hospitals are decontaminating N95 masks using vaporized hydrogen peroxide.) Please call Michael at 781-856-2032. Thank you.
A Note From a Father and Son during the COVID-19 Pandemic
The EMGW website reaches more than our guild members. More evidence was revealed recently when we received an email from a father and son, Tom and Dom, respectively, who were looking to use their self-isolating time as a learning experience. They decided to invest some time in routine general maintenance around the house. Dom responded with interest enjoying the manual aspect of the work and using tools. This brought their interest to our website via an internet search where they benefited from exploring the content and “everything you posted there”. As a measure of gratitude Tom sent a wonderful email to us telling of their experience.
We certainly encourage woodworking and sharing our experiences with people of all ages and in all times, not necessarily during a pandemic. But Tom’s email was encouraging in return. It was nice to know that people value what we do, what we know, and what we share. And this attitude propagates because Dom has passed on to us a website (https://dragonfiretools.com/family-woodworking-projects-for-your-workbench/ ) for anyone who is similarly inclined to work with wood with a new generation. He found it useful and a good addition to our website. Consequently, we have added another section called Websites where Dom’s recommendation now resides. You can access the Websites section by clicking Resources on the Home page then Links.
