(October 2013) Woodcraft will mark a decade of sponsoring its annual Turn for Troops National Turn-a-thon when volunteer woodturners gather at Woodcraft stores nationwide on the weekend of Nov. 9-10 to craft pens for men and women in the armed forces.
What began as a program to provide one-of-a-kind wooden pens to American troops for Christmas has grown each year, with many stores now holding turn-a-thons throughout the year so that pens are shipped to service personnel contacts as often as supplies allow. Pens are distributed to American service personnel on active duty or in rehabilitation facilities in the US. The 10,678 pens turned in 2012 brought the grand total for nine years to 97,717!!
To participate in the Turn for Troops program, contact a Woodcraft store nearest you. If you have never turned a pen but want to learn, check with the local store about instructions the day of the turn-a-thon or about pen making classes. You can also check out this video about pen making (see video above.)
Volunteer turners, who include the public and Woodcraft employees, are asked to write personal notes to go along with their one-of-a-kind writing instruments and express their appreciation to the recipients for service to their country.
Among the recent thank-you notes from pen recipients is one from the executive officer for a medical unit stationed in Afghanistan that underscores the reason for the program. “We were honored to receive some of your wooden pens the other day, and they were a HIT! Thank you for your support of the United States Armed Forces and your continuing commitment to being ‘Made in the USA!’ It’s great to receive gifts from the home front and to know that someone somewhere is thinking about us.”
Another note came from a soldier serving in the Army and stationed in South Korea. “It was a pleasant surprise to receive such a fine pen,” he wrote. “I can assure you it is greatly appreciated.”
