Larry Yancey is a businessman who owns and has operated a general contracting construction company for thirty years. In late 2018, he set a date for retirement of May, 2021. Larry’s life has been filled with family, church, and work with very little time to develop hobbies. He was satisfied with that, but after he began to plan for retirement, he questioned what he was going to do to occupy his free time. One morning in January of 2019, while exercising on the treadmill, he was watching YouTube and a segment appeared on the topic of woodturning. The subject struck a chord with him. He watched well over 100 related YouTube videos, took a class at Woodcraft, and joined the Richmond Wood Turners Club.
In late May 2019, he started to purchase the tools that he would need to begin turning and then to convert a storage building in his backyard to a workshop. In July, 2019, the shop was finished and he completed his first wood turning project. After many less that art-worthy attempts, he is improving and excited about refining his skills and techniques with the limited amount of time that he has in the shop. He is looking forward to May, 2021, when he can spend more time in the shop and increase his skills to the next level. He feels there is still much to learn.