In the April 8 newsletter update, Vincent Valvo announced his desire to step back from his roles in preparing the monthly newsletter and maintaining the EMGW.org website content. As you’ll read in the next paragraph, we are indebted to Vincent for years of time-consuming service to the Guild. We have a team working on the handoff, and they need time. This message comes in lieu of the usual May newsletter. Please read on, and visit www.emgw.org where some changes are already visible, and watch for the June newsletter in a month

Thank you, Vincent!

Vincent is the founding father of the newsletter and has been a faithful steward of the website, at first assisting Jim Russell, and then managing it with Tom Shirley's help for the past few years. Each month, he also solicits articles for the Featured Piece of the Month, shepherding members as they venture outside of their comfort zones in their shops to write, edit, and shape inspiring prose about their work. He composes the enticing introductions for the monthly blog posts. Many members might not realize that he was the creative mind behind the Newcomers Committee, which contacts new members and helps them get their sea legs as they are welcomed aboard the good ship EMGW. He also took the lead in organizing the ad hoc lunch groups that usually follow the Saturday meetings.  

On a personal note, my first contact with the Guild occurred when I attended a summertime FIG meeting on Steve Hoffmann’s back deck. I climbed the stairs and found an empty chair among a circle of strangers. Seated next to that chair was a trim gent with a shock of white hair and a warm smile, who introduced himself as Vincent, and who let me know that I was in the right place. Even as he lays down the heavy burden of Chief Communications Officer, I know he will continue as a welcoming presence for new and veteran members.

What now?

Since we met at the Concord Library, a working group began meeting to review our current website, looking to upgrade it and improve the user experience. The group continues to work, and the plan thus far is to make some adjustments while redistributing Vincent’s considerable workload.  

I want to recognize and thank those who’ve volunteered to start the process: Tom Shirley, James Goodwin, John LeJeune, and Vic Kelman. They tell me that they are eager to involve additional people. It will take a large crew to pick up Vincent’s tasks.

Watch for these changes in the coming months:

• More content will reside in dedicated places on the site
• Newsletters will link to those places for monthly content rather than putting them all in a long email
• Dividing up Vincent's role & potentially adding more positions so we can get it all done without so much resting on a single person’s shoulders
• Potentially more changes to come as we hear more from folks about how they use the site, how we can make it easier to move through, making it mobile-friendly, etc

In April, we saw an influx of four more members: Rob McNeil (Chatham), Dana Gray (Littleton), David Karwowski (Concord), and Bob Fuller (Plymouth).m

Kudos:

The June 2026 issue (No . 323) of Fine Woodworking includes a stunning cabinet by Michael Bossin in the Gallery on page 73. Call me biased, but I think it’s the best piece in the gallery. Back in January, when we met at Artisans’ Asylum, Anissa Kapsales walked us through the editorial process of getting a piece into the Readers’ Gallery. When you are ready to submit an item, Mike or Paul Duffield can review the process.