Chase's Mill in Alstead, NH is hosting Make a Cutting, Cheese, or Charcuterie Board as part of our 2024 calendar of community events. With guidance from instructors Paul Rodrigue and Jim Gruber, participants will use maple, cherry, or other hardwoods to design and make a cutting, cheese, or charcuterie board. A basic cutting board from one piece of wood can be made during the first three hour class. For those wishing to glue up different types of wood in their board, the second class session is available to complete the project. This class will use hand and/or power tools potentially including a planer, joiner, table saw, drill, band saw, router, belt/random orbital sanders, and/or a wood burner kit. Suitable for both beginner and intermediate woodworkers. Materials - Maple for basic board included. If you are interested in exotic woods price will vary. This class is open to adults and children ages 12 and older with an accompanying adult.

Paul Rodrigue has been building furniture and kitchen items for over 20 years. He prefers to use hand tools as much as possible and is partial to colonial design and techniques. His first cutting board was a replica of one built in Mill Hollow.
For over 40 years, Jim Gruber has been making things out of wood. He chiseled the oak post and beam timber frame for his current Alstead home at Chase's Mill in 1979. He taught woodworking for kids at the Mill in the early 1980s and timber frame house design classes at Keene State College. Working with native woods has become a life-long joy that he shares with his kids.

The Mill Hollow Heritage Association (MHHA) operates Chase's Mill in Alstead, NH, as a workshop for hands-on learning and a community gathering space. Our water-powered mill embodies the history of small-town industry, celebrating New England's vibrant past and inspiring the future of sustainable power and rural technology.