NOVEMBER 27, 2025
Things Come Full Circle
After forty-seven years without a word, a Happy Birthday email led to a wedding in Chariton, IA — and the start of a new chapter in a new building.
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Notes from the shop.
Stories from the lathe, the road, and the new building in Chariton.
NOVEMBER 23, 2025
Our New Home in Chariton, IA
A 131-year-old building on the Chariton town square — gallery on the main floor, my studio in the middle, Deb's studio in the back, and our home upstairs.
Read post →JANUARY 4, 2025
Happy 2025
A year-end recap from Don — Yucca Art Gallery, holiday markets, classes taught — and the plan to launch the workshop's veteran-suicide-prevention nonprofit.
Read post →MAY 27, 2024
Memorial Day Tribute
Memorial Day started as Decoration Day after the Civil War. Don's annual note on why the day matters — and why preventable veteran loss is the work.
Read post →MARCH 17, 2024
Vision for a New Shop Space
A 40,000-square-foot vision: open shop, classrooms with nine Robust lathes, private studios for artisans, and a Veterans Woodworking nonprofit at the heart.
Read post →MARCH 11, 2024
March 2024 Veterans Day in the Shop
Seventeen flag cases in various stages of completion, cut glass to fit the triangle openings, and another month of veterans building for veterans.
Read post →FEBRUARY 15, 2023
People Are Like Trees
A long-form essay from Don. Trees and people both carry their history in their layers — what can we learn from how a tree bends in the storm rather than breaks?
Read post →JANUARY 25, 2023
Why the "N" on My Business Cards Is Backwards
It's not a typo. The backwards N in RODEN is a tribute to Don's father — a Lions Club woodworker whose template carried the same quirk into twenty community benches.
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Veterans Woodworking Workshop · 118 North Grand St, Chariton, IA 50049