Dozens of lathes buzzed under the grind of chisels. Sawdust drifted into small piles on the floor. The scene wasn’t a wood shop but the conference room at North Oaks Diagnostics Center in Hammond.

Artists in the medium of wood – some lifelong woodworkers, some relatively new wood turning hobbyists; some local, some from afar; one blind – toiled over their machines for hours, intent on crafting beautiful ink pens for soldiers stationed overseas.

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