Cherry Ridge Carvers

24th Annual Northeast Woodcarvers Roundup

July 19 to 23, 2026
Cherry Ridge Campsites, 147 Camp Road, Honesdale PA
For lodging or campsites call – 570-488-6654

Over 20 instructors teaching many techniques of woodcarving over 4 days. Watch for class updates. Also join our Facebook group at NEWR.

Class Information – Watch for Updates

Dennis Thornton – Dennis will be joining us this year.  He will be teaching Monday through Thursday.  He will be teaching caricatures. class limited to 8 – 10 students. Below are some examples of his work. The exact project/s haven’t been determined yet.   You can see some his work at https://splintersandsplatters.com/dennis.htm.

Dennis has been carving for many years.  He was inducted into the Caricature Carvers of America in 2000.  He has served several offices in that organization.

Mike Bloomquist – Mike will be teaching 4 days this year.  Monday and Tuesday will be a two day class teaching automata, such as the “Dancing Mouse”. Look for updated project information. Then assemble the base. Wednesday and Thursday will be carving and making a Native American style flute.

See more of Mike’s carvings by Clicking here Mike Bloomquist began carving fishing lures in 1985. After failed attempts carving a wood duck and a draft horse, he learned how to really sharpen tools from a Rick Butz video and realized what many others found enjoyable about the art. Then, in 1994, he attended a woodcarving show sponsored by the Mohawk Valley Art and Woodcarving Assoc. Inspired by the variety and level of talent, woodcarving reached addiction status for him that year, and now serves as an excellent example of a hobby gone horribly out of control. While Mike started out in the Scandinavian Flat Plane style of woodcarving, his skills now encompass several forms including wildlife, folk art, fantasy, in-the-round, relief, and an occasional abstract. His pieces have been adopted for collections in Canada, England, Germany, Iceland, and across the United States. He enjoys teaching, demonstrating, and writing about woodcarving and proudly takes credit for Shanghaiing his friend Harold Kaltenbach into teaching at the very first year of the NEWR.

Jim Hiser – –Jim will be offering various Caricature projects . He will be teaching three days Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Maximum number of students per day 10. All level of carvers welcome. All projects are done with a knife and palm gouges. Projects are designed as 1 day projects.

Jim teaches several classes each year and attends various carving and art shows displaying his work. He is a member of the Caricature Carvers of America and likes promoting Caricature carving to new and experienced carvers.

Jim O’Dea – Jim will be teaching two days this year. He will be teaching a Folk Art Rabbit. Jim has a large variety of projects available for the beginner to advanced. He will also be bringing his assortment of woodcarving items and tools for purchase. Additional class information will be provided as we get it.

  
Jim O’Dea has 45 years experience carving human caricatures, carousel horses, realistic freshwater fish, whales and many other subjects. During this period he has studied woodcarving with several master wood sculptors across the USA and Canada. Jim has taught woodcarving for over 20 years, including evening courses at Ledyard High School, Ledyard CT; weekend classes at the New England Carousel Museum in Mystic, CT; the New England Woodcarvers Retreat at the University of Rhode Island; the Florida Woodcarvers Roundup, Clearwater, FL; the Lake Placid Woodcarving Experience at Lake Placid, NY; the NorthEast Woodcarvers Roundup in Honesdale, PA; The Michigan Woodcarvers Roundup at Evart, MI; the Indiana Woodcarvers Summer Camp,Bremen, IN; The Buckeye Woodcarvers roundup at Fletcher, Ohio; and numerous classes for the Mystic Carvers Club in Mystic, CT, Rainbow Woodcarvers Club in Niagara Falls, NY; the Southtowns Woodcarvers Club in Hamburg, NY; the Peace River Carvers Club in Arcadia, FL; the Myakka River Carvers Club in El Jobean, Fl, and the North Port Woodcarvers in Northport, FL. Jim lives in Rotonda West, FL and spends summers on Grand Island, NY. See Jim’s web site with useful information to those pursuing woodcarving as a hobby here.

Chris O’Dea – Chris has taught for several years at the Roundup.  She will be teaching 2 days. Her past projects have been the quilted Christmas stocking.  Watch for updates to her class information.

Harold Kaltenbach – Bark Houses ” Harold will be teaching Monday through Thursday. He will have a variety of blanks to choose from. Please bring all your tools, no tool to big or too small and have an open mind to think outside the box. Class size max 14. Carving gnome homes from single pieces of cottonwood bark and also double pieces of bark for advance carvers. Harold will also be teaching Spirit Faces in Cottonwood.

Arland Zeiler – Beginner Woodcarving – Arland will be teaching techniques for the beginning woodcarver. Students will be using a knife only. They will learn the characteristics of wood and different terms related to woodcarving. This is an excellent class for those that wish to learn woodcarving. Offered -Monday only. Beginners will be carving a carrot. Arland will also be offering a class on making the special long cane. Only a few tools are needed for this class.

Arland has been teaching beginning carving at the Roundup for many years. He also has been teaching beginning carving to Boy Scouts for more years than he can remember.

John Griscti – Chip Carving -All 4 days- Students will learn to identify the differences between various Chip carving knives, and what features are best for the beginner and advanced chip carver. Each student will learn the correct way to hold their knife and will then start carving several basic designs. Each student will then progress to more complex designs such as rosettes – Both advanced and beginner chip carvers are welcomed.  He will be teaching Beginner Chip Carving Monday and Tuesday, Wednesday will be the Sunflower and Thursday will be Carvers Choice of projects. There will be different projects to choose from. Pictures below are samples of John’s Chip Carving projects. One of the advanced projects this year is the sunflower.

Bob Muller – Bob will be teaching Relief Carving this year on at least 2 days.  There will be several projects to choose from. If someone has an idea for a project we can try to work it into a relief carving.  Tools needed are gouges and v tools along with at least one knife.  Mallet size tools work best for relief carving because of their length.  Class size is limited to 9 people each day.  Stay tuned for pictures.

Bob has been woodcarving since 1998. He has carved many different styles of carving including Cottonwood, Caricature, Animals and Relief.

Jen Nailor will be available for a non-carving class. She will be teaching three days this year. These will be a one day class making an gourd/pine needle bowl. The other day will be making a pine needle baskets. Anyone taking the pine needle class is asked to bring a small pair of scissors and nippers – wire cutters to trim off the pine needle ends if they have them.

 Maura Cooper – Maura will be teaching a Pierced Relief Carving. She will be teaching this on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Leon Standish – Leon will be our sharpener again this year. If your tools need a tune up bring them to Leon’s station. Leon not only sharpens tools but is an accomplished woodcarver. So he knows what type of edge to put on your carving tools. He will also have tools available.

Charlie Brooks  –  Charlie will be teaching two days this year, Monday and Tuesday.  He will have a choice of projects.  You can choose from several different projects.

Charlie hails from Missouri and has been a regular attendee at the Northeast Woodcarvers Roundup.  He has also been spending some time carving near his home area.

Kevin Kearney – Kevin is a new instructor this year and will be teaching three days this year. Monday through Wednesday. He will be teaching the comical fish as well as a tiki.

Kevin is a member of Cherry Ridge Carvers. His carvings show imagination and skill.

Nadine Atkinson and Ellen Ainge – Nadine will be doing a woodburning class for 3 days on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Students can choose from beginner to more advanced projects. She will have room for 10 students. For those choosing, they can paint their project. Ellen will be at the class to assist students with painting techniques.

Ken Kuhar – Ken will be teaching Caricatures from a roughout. He will be teaching three days. Monday through Wednesday. He will be able to accommodate 8-10 students per day. One of Kens previous projects are below.

Ken began carving in 2006 and has been a familiar face at the NEWR for many years. He is a member of the Lancaster Woodcarvers Club and the Conewago Wood Carvers Club.

Joan Lech – Joan will be joining us again this year. She will be teaching Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Monday Joan will be teaching a Spoon carving project . Wednesday and Thursday TBA.

Claudia Hill – will be teaching on Wednesday this year. She will be teaching Gourd Art.  Gourds will be woodburned and decorated.

Bill Hoban – Bill will be teaching magic wands and ornaments in the same style with some additions.  This is a great beginners project. Bill has been attending the NEWR for many years.

Don Swartz– Don will be available three days.   Don’s projects this year will include a Rooster and a Mouse.

Don lives in Lancaster PA is the owner of Hillcrest Carving, a carving supply store located near Lancaster. Don has also had at least two instructional projects published in Woodcarving Illustrated magazine.

Kyle Elders – Kyle will be teaching one day this year on Wednesday. He will be teaching Caricatures and capturing expression.

Kyle is fairly new to woodcarving, but has taken to it with great enthusiasm. He has spent many hours with Jim Hiser and is inspired by carvings from Pete LeClair.

Sharpening Class – Bob Muller will be teaching sharpening techniques. This is a 45 minute session on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday mornings before the classes start. We will start with sharpening tools and then basic knife sharpening techniques. Then the following days will be gouges and the V-tool. We will identify common mistakes and problems with some of the tools. We ask that all beginners attend this class.