Pens for troops hold special significance

ONE hundred hand crafted pens made of elm wood reclaimed from the Avenue of Remembrance are on their way to serving Australian Defence Force troops in the Middle-East thanks to members of the Ballarat Woodworkers Guild.

The local contribution will be added to pens 4000 from across the state and will make it to service personal in time for Anzac Day.

“Every troop member, whether it’s army, navy or air force, will get a pen from Victoria” said guild president Ross Holst. Each [guild] member has made between five and 10.”

The genesis of the idea came from a woodworking group located at RAAF Base East Sale and Ballarat crafts people were more than happy to jump on board.

Mr Holst said that because the Ballarat pens were made from historic wood that held great significance, that made them even more special.

“The trustees of the avenue of honour, through VicRoads, have given us a stack of elm timber that they cut down from the bypass when they were realigning it,” he said.

“Ours are a little bit different, all the other guilds have basically made it out of what they had. We thought we’d add a little bit to it.”

Each pen was created by turning the historic elm on a lathe and then completed with a kit that contained the metal parts and ink cartridge. While the Ballarat guild has made toys for other community efforts in the past, including the city’s annual Christmas appeal and breast cancer fundraisers, this is the first time the group has created something for troops serving overseas.

The Ballarat Woodworkers Guild currently has just under 100 members and meets on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday morning at a workshop at Ballarat Airport.