We have received the following request from Mihai Costea, Past President of the Canadian Botanical Association. I think it is better if I let Mihai speak for herself as to how David impacted their association and how they are looking to carry on a tradition.
I am writing on behalf of the Canadian Botanical Association (https://www.cba-abc.ca/). Each year the Association gives a couple of major awards, and for many years these awards were created and crafted by David Sweet of the Wood Bee Turnings, whom for sure you must have known. He tragically passed away last September. We want to keep the tradition established by David, and we are exploring to see if this is possible.
David must have enjoyed tremendously doing this because he was charging us little for the value of his creations. He was looking into the specific botanical research of the winner and then personalizing the award to fit the person. Please see one such award (Mary Elliott 2023) made by him. We already have the medallion(s) in the center. The platter was perhaps 14–16 inches in diameter, but the size is not important. The other award, for teaching, was more straightforward: a plaque with the name of the award and of the recipient's, year and a simple design.
Steve, whom I contacted first, said that he was reluctant to accept because he knew that David was closer to some of the members of the Woodturners association, Greater Vancouver Woodturners Guild, who perhaps may feel more willing and empowered to carry on David's work. As you know everyone in the Guild, I hope that you can put me in contact with one of David's talented friends.
When necessary, I can provide more details, and I can help with the design theme(s). The awards are needed by the end of May because the CBA's conference will be between June 2–4 in Ottawa. The CBA's current president lives in Vancouver and could pick them up in person.
Thank you very much in advance!
Best wishes,
Mihai
mcostea@wlu.ca
Anyone interested or wanting to coordinate an effort should reach out to Mihai as soon as possible.