Profits & Passions
John D’ambrosio
Smooth finish
By BOB ROZYCKI

It’s 4 a.m. Do you know where John D’Ambrosio is?

If the weather is good and it’s spring, summer or early fall, he’s probably heading out to the golf course where he’s about a 10-handicap player.

However, when the weather turns chilly, chances are very good that you’ll find him in his shop in the basement of his home making what woodworkers make most -- sawdust.

Kidding aside, D’Ambrosio is a prodigious woodworker. Nonprofits, family and friends are all beneficiaries of his extraordinary talent of turning slabs of wood into everything from mementoes to pieces of art. A grandfather clock made of oak stands in the town of Newburgh home he and his wife, Marilyn, share, a testament to his fine craftwork and attention to detail. It is next to a mantle ensconced in wood, which rises to a wood ceiling. End tables and cabinets made by D’Ambrosio are throughout the home.

A guest bedroom is furnished -- bed, dresser and nightstand -- as a result of his wife finding a photo in a magazine and he recreating it in his shop.

D’Ambrosio is in the shop for about four hours before he heads out to his job as president of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce. Nattily dressed in suit and tie, it wasn’t until recently that he went out and bought himself a pair of jeans. His shop attire had consisted of flannel shirt and worn suit pants.

The shop is a woodworker’s dream, outfitted with scroll saws, drum sander, band saw, drill press, joiner, planer, router table and air compressor. An assortment of chisels, screws, nails and other hardware are all neatly in place along one wall. Wood is piled by type, from mahogany to oak to exotics such as rosewood, bloodwood and Australian sycamore.

D’Ambrosio generally does all the staining and finishing himself, but some projects such as snowmen or stockings are hand-painted by his wife. Has the couple ever considered flea markets or craft fairs as venues for their work? No, they reply, once you do that it stops being enjoyable and becomes work.

D’Ambrosio learned about woodworking watching his dad, Vincent, who was a finished carpenter. As a youngster growing up in Schenectady, D’Ambrosio remembers visiting work sites and sitting on the lap of the bulldozer operator while he performed his work. As a teenager, he helped his dad build houses. When he was 19 he fell off a roof and broke his back. After mending some, he needed to use a cane to get around. But he tired of the cane and turned to physical therapy in the form of golf. He hasn’t used a cane since.

After earning an undergraduate degree at Hobart College, D’Ambrosio went on to earn a master’s and doctorate degree from the State University of New York at Albany’s School of Education. He then was director of development at Mount Saint Mary College for about four years before taking on the position with the chamber. When he came on 24 years ago, there were fewer than 200 members; today there are 2,400. He credits his “great staff” for making things go smoothly. With 15 employees, it’s the largest chamber between Albany and Long Island.

When his dad died, D’Ambrosio inherited all his woodworking tools. He thought, “OK, these can collect dust or I can make dust.”

He’s been making dust ever since. He also taught himself a few techniques along the way. One is intarsia, the art of inlaying wood, similar to mosaic. An American eagle, its wings outstretched, hangs in his home.

To the question as to what he finds more enjoyable, golf or woodworking, D’Ambrosio answers: “You need to have a good balanced life; first family, then work, then golf and woodworking.”