In December 2022 Diablo Woodworkers (DW) was, for the first time in years, unable to sell its annual main MDAE Craft Fair item, the Sam Maloof Inspired Rocking Chair. The chair was built and finished by a topnotch team of DW craftsmen. The team included: Joe Abel, Andy Ferguson, Ed Steffinger, Ben Townley and Ron Kersey.
In early 2023 two unrelated events converged to alleviate the issue of finding a deserving home for the Maloof Rocker. First, a small group of DW’s had to move the leftover beautiful black walnut wood used for the ARF bench projects to a loft at MDAE. Second, DW Club became aware of an annual Gala Art Auction being sponsored by Okizu. Okizu is a Bay Area non-profit that supports parents/grandparents whose kids have cancer by having an annual summer camp in the Sierras for these kids. One of the DW members has a grandson who attended this summer camp for years, and DW Club had donated custom built outdoor Adirondack furniture to Camp Okizu in 2013 and 2016.
The opportunity to donate to Okizu again was too good to pass up. So DW Club decided that the Maloof Rocker would our first donation. We also felt we could use some of that walnut to build a very special coffee table. Specifically, we used the pattern from another great American craftsman legend, George Nakashima. The auction was in March but, fortunately, the items did not have to be delivered at that time. A small team built the table, led by Michael Jesse and included Gregg Langlois, Joe Hirt, Darin Peterson, and David Lipscomb with photography and delivery by John Dzenitis. In early June the Nakashima Inspired Live Edge Coffee table and the Maloof Rocker were both delivered to a very generous lady in Marin County who donated $5,500 for both items.