After being asked (as the new website editor, although I still haven’t got the hang of WordPress) to publish the current competition scores, I can hopefully say that they are below.  If you think they’re wrong, please let me know what you think is wrong and what you think sit should be.

I’ve just been looking at the latest scores for the competition (June 2016: Table Lamp) and am curious about the low scores. It might well be that someone thinks that the competition entries are really not very good (which is fair enough because everyone is entitled to their opinion) but the range of low scores (1, 2, 2, 4, 4, and 5) suggest to me the possibility that someone is marking the entries as 1 for the best one, 2 for the second best, etc.

So for clarity I thought I’d reiterate that the marks given on the score sheets are marks out of 10, not positions of preference. If you’ve been marking them as first, second, third, etc. then the ones you liked best will only have got a score of 1, 2 or 3 out of 10. This could explain why I’ve mysteriously ended up near the top of the table this year!!

If you’re not comfortable making an absolute judgement and would prefer to put them in relative order then you could still do that but remember to start at high and work down rather than starting at 1 and working up!

Finally, if you have been marking the wrong way and you’d like to rectify it, perhaps you could have a discreet word with myself or Carl and we’ll see if we can get the results updated.

For the sake of clarity regarding the upcoming competition item, I thought I’d share parts of a recent discussion regarding the difference between mushrooms and toadstools:

The Botanist’s answer: There is no distinction between mushrooms and toadstools. Poisonous ones are commonly known as toadstools, but botanically they are the same.

The Storyteller’s answer: Given that mushrooms are edible and toadstools are poisonous (this being the generally accepted, non scientific difference between these fungi) I say that anyone turning a ‘mushroom’ from Yew, Laburnum etc should be disqualified and anyone making a toadstool from heavily spalted timber should be allowed. We could use the bandsaw to slice anything which we are uncertain about, and fry the suspect slices in garlic butter and if kidney dialysis is not required thereafter then the entry should be allowed.

The Accepted answer: There is no difference so both will be acceptable for the forthcoming competition. I’m not sure about truffles though.

The Club originally decided to organise a monthly Competition to encourage members to actually make things and to have a go at items that they may not think of making otherwise.In 2014 only 20 members entered at least one item into the Competition; this is considerably less than half the membership. It may be that some members are put off from entering by their perception of the standard of other entries.

In order to encourage participation, for 2015 the Club will introduce a section called ‘New Turners’ separate from the Main section of the Competition.

How it will work

the competition item will be the same for both sections

• the two sections will be displayed on separate tables
• each member may enter 1 item per month
• member decides which section to enter
• members will assess each section separately
• results will be published separately
• at the end of the year there will be a separate prize for New Turners
• the winner may be encouraged to enter the Main section in subsequent years !

Galloway Woodturners Committee December 2014

So that’s it for this year and it’s been a really good close competition with just 0.2 separating the top four, but it’s Chic who’s topped the table once again – well done Chic!