Mike and I had a wonderful weekend at Lie-Nielsen. He and I have had many conversations since about how much we appreciated the culture of creativity there. I am always blown away at how, even though it’s been a year since the last one, we can pick up right where we left off. These folks are down-to-earth awesome people. Tom’s business model is groundbreaking in its generosity to other vendors. Think about it: The guy invites all his competition (i.e. friends) to come and sell their goods without charging them a fee, he buys them dinner, and then genuinely thanks them for coming to the party. What a class act. In most markets you expect fierce competition, belittling other makers, price gouging, and overpricing for booths at events. Not in the hand tool woodworking world. Thank you, Tom, for setting the standard of community mindedness so high.
It was awesome to have Mike there this year, as well. His passion, knowledge, and skill shined through all weekend. I know he also has forged a bunch of new friendships. We so look forward to seeing these folks again. I’ll be at WIA in a couple months but, unfortunately, Mike is unable to make it out this year. We plan to be hitting the usual shows each year because this is so fun. I can without reservation that the Lie-Nielsen Open House is one of the best.
Below are some pictures we were able to snap during the hubbub.
Anne Briggs Bohnett drove up to our place the day after to visit us and our homestead and new goat babies. Who can resist new baby goats?