Barbara Drolet

Barbra Drolet - President

Barbara started refinishing antique furniture in high school but had never experienced a lathe until two decades later in an adult education class. She was immediately smitten. She found the transformational process of log to bowl absolutely fascinating and extremely gratifying. Unfortunately, her next opportunity to turn would not come for another 12 years when she was gifted a lathe. Shortly thereafter, she learned of the Flint Hills Woodturners from one of its founding members, Bob Holcombe.

Recently retired, she is finding more time to spend in the shop and continues to learn so much from the Club’s amazingly talented members. She served as the FHW secretary for 6 years and became President in 2026. 

Dave Davis - Vice President

Dave grew up as a farm kid. His dad had a small woodshop in the basement and as soon as he could, he was learning how to turn. The first things off the lathe weren’t very attractive by current standards, but his mother thought they were works of art. (at least that’s what she said)
As the years passed by, work got in the way and eventually, he found his way back to woodworking. He actually started doing a good deal of flat work, cabinets and tables.  Got pretty good at it and then stumbled into the Flinthills Woodturners. It took a little while but eventually he got a pretty nice lathe and hasn’t look back.  He still does some flat work but he really enjoys turning wood.

Ned Gatewood - Secretary

Ned Gatewood joined the Flint Hills Woodturners club in 2020   2017 and served as the club’s secretary for several years and is currently serving as secretary once again.  Ned has been involved with woodworking most of his life; he has made much of the furniture in his home.  He purchased his first lathe, and ancient Craftsman lathe, in about 1985 when he needed to repair some spindles in an old press back chair.  Since then, he’s had several lathes, and when retiring from Kansas State University, he treated himself to a modern, variable speed lathe.  Ned particularly enjoys turning lidded boxes and embellishing his turnings with pyrography and dyes.

Ross Hirst

Ross Hirst - Treasurer

Ross has been working with wood all his life.  He started playing around with tools in his grandpa’s small workshop as a kid.  The source of a lot of the wood he used was cigar boxes from his grandpa’s grocery store.  He took woodshop in the 7th grade and had his first experience with woodturning.  He did mostly flat work until he got his first lathe in the early 90s.  His first lathe was a converted pipe makers lathe that needed new bearings, which he didn’t realize at the time.  

Ross started turning pens and stuck with them for several years until he sold the old lathe and got a new Jet lathe which for him was like moving from a Model T to a Cadi.

Ross has four lathes but primarily uses only two.  One of his lathes is an Oliver that was manufactured in 1930. He still does some pens but also does bowls and spindle work.  He is a member of AAW, Kansas Area Woodturners and FHWT.

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Ken Stitt - Program Director

Randy Zelenka - Operations Director

Bob Holcombe - Member at Large

Bob is a retired graphic designer. He first tried woodturning while playing with his stepdad’s Shopsmith when he was a kid. Now enjoying his second childhood, he spends as much time as he can at his lathe.