About SWATurners
SWATurners is a organization of 22 Texas and Oklahoma chapters of the American Association of Woodturners and sponsors an annual woodturning symposium the aim of which is to provide a live forum and venue for the education and skill development of those interested in woodturning.
A Brief History of SWATurners
The large regional woodturning symposium known as SWATurners has quite a heritage. It got its start in October 1992, when a modest gathering of Texas turners decided to get together under some large live oak trees near the Colorado River in Columbus, Texas. They couldn’t have imagined what they were starting. With the hope of attracting 50 people they attracted 80. That was the beginning of what has turned into the second largest woodturning symposium in the world. The gathering became known as Texas Turn or Two, and continued for ten years under that name.
The symposium was conceived and organized by a group of Texas turners who met at the home of Bob Rubel in San Marcos. Among those attending that get-together were Gary Roberts, Clay Foster, James Johnson, Larry Roberts and Mark Potter. That gathering led to the idea that it would be great to have a regional woodturning symposium that could be attended by those who had neither the time nor the money to go to a national event. The four or five AAW chapters then in Texas got to work. The idea at first seemed likely to founder due to the fact that no one could come up with a site that wasn’t too expensive. A few days later, Mark Potter decided that he could move things around in his cabinet shop near Columbus and host it there.
Since the first gathering was to be held in Columbus, it was decided to hold it on Columbus Day. The demonstrators agreed to demonstrate without a charge and the principals decided that if they could get 50 people, they would break even.
On the appointed day, folks began to wend their way down the dirt road a couple of miles outside of Columbus. Soon there were motor homes, trailers, pop-ups and tents scattered all around the area under the big live oak trees. Needless to say, the event was a success, and they more than broke even, with 80 attendees or so. The event returned to Columbus the next year, with John Jordan as the first invited featured turner, but by then it had outgrown Mark Potter’s shop.
From 1994 through 2000, Texas Turn or Two was held at Maricopa Ranch RV Park west of New Braunfels, near Canyon Lake. Eventually, attendance became so large that just accommodating everyone at the demonstrations was a major challenge. Add to that a ferocious rainstorm that very nearly swamped the event in 2000, with cold rain blowing in under the demonstration tents and falling into the dining tent and the tent where the vendors had their (mostly cast iron) wares to sell.
It became obvious that larger facilities would have to be found, and the event moved to San Angelo for the 2001 Texas Turn or Two. In 2002, the symposium was reorganized as Southwest Association of Turners and held its annual symposium in Wichita Falls. Both the name change and the location were undertaken to make the event more accessible to woodturners from nearby neighboring states. In 2004, the event was held in Temple in central Texas, to make it more accessible to its Texas membership base. The event returned to Wichita Falls in 2005.
The Fifteenth Annual SWAT Symposium, now sponsored by eighteen woodworking clubs in Texas and Oklahoma, was held in Temple again in 2006. This was the largest and most successful gathering yet, with some 580 attendees.
The Sixteenth Symposium was held in Wichita Falls, a great time was had by all.
