Well here we are again folks! It's member of the month time! And we are a tad late as we had some logistics to figure out but we got it all done behind scenes!

We love this portion of our community, our monthly announcements of members who stand out and go that extra mile. We know all our members are special, just like all the men and women who serve our country are special, and there is always that one troop that stands out. Just as there is always that one Patriot Woodworker who stands out, if only for a moment in time, they make someone else's life better, they make our site better, they make the world a better place. And our October Member of the Month is no different.

It's no surprise then why we chose to celebrate Patriot Woodworker TJ Brown, owner of TJ's Workshop from Fort Smith Arkansas.

TJ has been a member of The Patriot Woodworker woodworking community since January 16th, 2012. And that is a good length of time considering we are only 3 years old!

TJ as you can see in his photo at left is a wonderful scroller and intarsia artist. His work is masterful, and he does it all from a very comfortable small shop.

As a matter for fact, not only does his shop produce some of the nicest intarsia around, his shop also displays some very interesting items not seen in many shops, you see TJ is an avid license plate collector, he picks em up on the roadside, and he also receives plates from friends and fans alike from around the country. See the below slide show of TJ's marvelous shop adorned with his collection of, well, license plates!!!!

Find more photos like this on The Patriot Woodworker

A Call to Action is Answered

TJ is being featured this month for his work with the Warrensburg MO, Veterans Home where he traveled over 500 miles round trip with his trailer in tow, and entertained our veterans with his scroll sawing prowess. We put the word out months ago after we were contacted by the events coordinator Melissa Wilson of the veterans home, she asked us if we could supply a woodworker for their big annual "Family Day" they hold for their veterans who inhabit the home.

We posted the call for action here, and on Facebook, and guess who answered the call, that's right, TJ Brown did. We are very grateful for TJ's volunteerism with our veterans. TJ and I have communicated in the past and it is obvious his compassion and respect he has for our veterans. He proved it with his actions. TJ is what we are all about, his selfless actions reflect the values of The Patriot Woodworker and what we stand for here. All of you are here because of your love for woodworking, and your respect and admiration for the men and women who serve our nation. And TJ had the opportunity to serve them back and we are forever grateful.

Please follow this link to see our original feature of TJ Brown and his day at the veterans home: A Patriot Woodworker Steps Up To The Plate To Serve Our Veterans.

TJ Does Not Stop Giving

For TJ's efforts he landed a wonderful package of Bessey Tools Woodworking Clamps!!!!!

Now, before we go on, TJ had to go the extra mile again. In a message from TJ after being notified he is the October Member of the Month, he stated that he is a lucky man, he has everything he needs in life, and I can vouch for that as his family is absolutely awesome and life has been kind to TJ. So with that TJ asked if Bessey could send the tools to a gentleman named Al Rush.

Al is a disabled woodworker who specializes in a unique art skill of building fishing lures. And he builds small boxes as well! See below a quote by TJ, I hope TJ nor Al mind, I don't think they will.

"He (AL Rush) carves and hand paints tons of amazing fishing lures and gives them away.  Last year he volunteered to make a couple of dozen lures to give to all the kids in my wife's second grade class." TJ Brown

That is Al Rush folks, and I think TJ made a wonderful choice in his re-gifting of the Bessey Tools Clamps.

To see a snippet of what Al Rush does you can go to a space he has on the internet at Al Rush Lures.

Bessey Tools Steps Up to the Plate

We need to thank our sponsor Bessey Tools of North America for coming to the table for Al Rush. We sent Bessey Tools a message stating we have our October Featured Member of the Month but there is a catch, he wants to pass on his award to someone who could really benefit from it. Not that TJ did not like the clamps! TJ knows high quality products, it's just that he felt a need to pass them on to Al who could use some clamps by now, last I heard ol Al was clamping up a box with rubber bands!!!!

Bessey shot back to us that it was completely wonderful that TJ was going to do this and that they were so excited to be a part of this. So Bessy is sending out Al Rush a wonderful set of clamps tailored to his smaller project skill that he enjoys. The following is a list of items Al Rush will be receiving from our wonderful friends at Bessey Tools of North America.

4 x LM2.004 Light duty clamps

2 x LMU2.006 Step over light duty

2 x KLI3.0012 KliKlamps

2 x TG4.512+2k Tradesman bar clamps

That is a wonderful line up of Bessey clamps!!! We appreciate your support Bessey!

So that is how that went this month folks, a unique way to celebrate our member of the month for October, and a great way to celebrate another wonderful man Al Rush and his generosity he has shown in his own life.

We are so proud of our Patriot Woodworkers, we are truly a selfless bunch, we are The Few, The Proud, The Patriot Woodworkers!!!!!!!!

If you would like to know how you may also qualify for Featured Member of the Month, please click on the preceding link.

And to check out more of Bessey Tools of North America please click on the links below!!

Bessey Tools Face Book Page

Bessey Tools Website

Bessey Tools Youtube Channel

Also check out Bessey's latest innovations at: 

BESSEY® high-performance clamps For Welding and Fabricating 2400S

 

Once again we all would love to thank all involved for this feature, first off TJ Brown for his selfless act, Al Rush for his generosity, and last but definitely not least, our sponsor Bessey Tools of North America, for without Bessey and the rest of our wonderful supporters, we could not exist as a woodworking community, thank you once again.

 

 

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Congrats, TJ!  Bravo Zulu!

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Lew Kauffman-
Wood Turners Forum Host

Time Traveler and Purveyor of the Universe's Finest Custom Rolling Pins!

Beautiful Eagle TJ

Keep up the Fire TJ, Great work!

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'The American People sleep peacefully at night because there are Rough Cavalrymen overseas doing violence on their behalf'

T.J., bask in the glory as the October Member of the Month.  You deserve it!

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Ron Dudelston
Site Administrator

Above and Beyond WoodWorks

Congratulations TJ; What a wonderful thing you do for mankind. You are defiantly worthy of the award of Member of the Month. And a nice collection of license plates you have. Again Congratulations

Dennis Mitchell

Buckeye, AZ

Congrats TJ you deserve it!

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Charles Nicholls
Site Host
nicholls61@att.net
Proud supporter of The Wounded Warrior Project, Homes For Our Troops and the NRA

http://www.etsy.com/shop/nichollswoodworks

Congratulations TJ.

 

Larry

Old Woodworking Machinery Forum Host

Thank y'all very much. I would like to re-post here what I wrote back to John and Bessey Tools on my FB age.

Thank you John. It really is a honor for me, but there are a lot more deserving woodworkers out there. I do want to tell you how much I appreciate you and Bessey Tools of North America for going through the trouble of sending the wonderful assortment of clamps to someone that can use them more than me. Thank you again!

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TJB

You bet TJ, I also am aware you are not very comfortable with accolades like this! You do what you do from your heart without expecting anything in return. I know how you feel, but hey, without folks like you we could not have a Featured Member of the Month program!!!!! We hope Al enjoys his clamps and will not have to use rubber bands again for his box glue ups!

TJ Brown said:

Thank y'all very much. I would like to re-post here what I wrote back to John and Bessey Tools on my FB age.

Thank you John. It really is a honor for me, but there are a lot more deserving woodworkers out there. I do want to tell you how much I appreciate you and Bessey Tools of North America for going through the trouble of sending the wonderful assortment of clamps to someone that can use them more than me. Thank you again!

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TJB

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John Morris
The Patriot Woodworker

Congrats to TJ - - - Great looking Eagle in his lap.

And a great big THANK YOU for what you do to help our "older" verterans.

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Fred
aka Pop's Shop
www.pops-shop.com
'Soooooo many patterns - sooooo little time'
Scroll Saw Forum Host