Community
- Southland Woodworkers Guild showcases handcrafted wooden toys and gifts in annual exhibition.
- Event runs across multiple dates, featuring free entry at Mary Street clubrooms.
- Visitors can explore woodworking skills, toy assembly and buy handcrafted Christmas gifts.
The Southland Woodworkers Guild has transformed into a hive of activity this festive season, with its annual exhibition in full swing at the Mary Street clubrooms. The event, which began on Saturday, 23rd November, offers a variety of handcrafted wooden items ideal for Christmas gifts.
Visitors can browse an array of items, including rocking horses, trains, carriages, puzzles, and bed cradles. The guild, based in the old Southland Darts Hall, purchased the building seven years ago and dedicates the year to crafting thousands of wooden toys for events like this exhibition and the Kidzone Festival.
Club member Kevin Gerrard highlighted the Kidzone initiative, a partnership with Southland Girls’ High School and Great South. “Every year they make over 2000 wooden pieces and then they teach the students how to put them together in the school holidays,” he said. The collaboration not only creates cherished toys but also gives students hands-on woodworking experience.
The guild has been active for over 30 years, boasting 74 members aged 20 to 91. Members develop woodworking skills, including carving, scrollwork, and woodturning. The club offers access to tools, equipment, and expert advice on techniques like lathe turning, scroll sawing, carving and safe machinery use.
Exhibition favourites include trucks and trains, which are especially popular as Christmas presents. The event will continue this weekend and will reopen next Wednesday, running until Sunday. The same schedule applies for the following week, concluding on Sunday, 3rd December.
The exhibition is open to the public at 5 Mary Street, Turnbull Thomson Park, Invercargill, from 10 am to 3 pm on the following dates:
- Saturday, 23rd and Sunday, 24th November
- Wednesday, 22nd to Sunday, 26th November
- Wednesday, 29th November to Sunday, 9th December
Admission is free. For further details, visit the guild’s website at www.swwg.co.nz or their Facebook page.
