Navy Captain Turns Pens At Woodcraft Turn For Troops National Turn-a-Thon
PARKERSBURG, W. Va. (PRWEB) December 29, 2017 -- Navy Captain Will Pennington of the USS George H. W. Bush aircraft carrier was among volunteers who turned 12,661 pens at the 14th Woodcraft Turn for Troops National Turn-a-Thon on Veterans Day weekend. The captain turned pens at the Virginia Beach Woodcraft. The 2017 pen total brings the grand total since 2004 to 158,742.
Last year Capt. Pennington and his crew were on the receiving end of 4,840 of these unique wood pens that are sent annually as thank-you gifts to US military personnel on active duty and recovering in rehabilitation centers. “I much enjoyed the opportunity to turn a few pens to contribute to your great program,” Capt. Pennington said.
“Woodcraft is honored to have Capt. Pennington among the ranks of the volunteers who made the Turn for Troops program successful for the 14th year,” president Jody Garrett said. “Woodcraft commends him and the hundreds of other volunteers of all ages who cared enough to spend time turning pens for the people who are defending the US. Without these caring volunteers, many who show up every year, Woodcraft would not be able to say thank you in such a personal way to our military.”
Volunteers Who Care
Volunteers who participate in the Turn for Troops National Turn-a-Thon, as well as those who turn pens year-round for the program, are a diverse group of people who often are retired military or have family or friends in the military.
For example, Charlie Wilson, who manages the Woodcraft store in Lenexa, Kansas, is a Vietnam veteran and a turn-a-thon volunteer. Jeff Brockett, who has a nephew in the military, volunteers at the Nashville store turn-a-thon and has turned over 1,000 pens in the past three or four years. Sean Bramer, a retired Navy veteran, brought his 13-year-old daughter Cyndi to the Virginia Beach Woodcraft turn-a-thon this year as a father/daughter outing to give back to the troops. It was Cyndi’s first turning experience, and she turned four pens.
2017 Store Leaders
The same four Woodcraft stores that have led in the highest number of pens turned annually and overall for the past several years kept their top spots in 2017 with one switch – Nashville, Tennessee, is the top store for 2017 with 2,313 pens turned, while Grand Rapids, Michigan, is second with 2,268. Rounding out the top four are Tucson, Arizona, third, 1,480, and Boise, Idaho, fourth, 1,127. Tucson leads the stores in number of pens turned over the past 14 years: 17,544. Nashville is second, 17,531; Boise is third, 15,068; and Grand Rapids is fourth, 12,701.
Woodcraft of San Carlos is the closest store to the top four with 792 pens in 2017 (a jump from 475 in 2016) and 9,318 in 14 years. Three other stores achieved major increases over their previous year totals: Rockville, Maryland (235 in 2016; 760 in 2017), Milwaukee, Wisconsin (75 in 2016; 641 in 2017), and West Atlanta, Georgia (89 in 2016; 216 in 2017).
For more information about Woodcraft, please contact the Woodcraft store nearest you, visit Woodcraft or call (800) 535-4482. Click here to learn more about Woodcraft franchise opportunities or email woodcraftfranchise(at)woodcraft(dot)com.
Lori Harper, Woodcraft Supply LLC, http://www.woodcraft.com, +1 (304) 865-4107 Ext: 2107, [email protected]
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