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The
Seventh Annual
Wood Carving Seminar
At Silver Dollar City
by Ed
Crabtree
In
our article, "An Interview With Peter Engler" we
reported how Silver Dollar City's National Festival
Of Craftsmen began in 1963 as the Missouri Festival
of Ozark Craftsmen and how Mr. Engler along with
Mary Herschend, Ben Parnell, Paul Henning, and M.
Graham Clark, were the founding board members of a
not-for-profit organization whose purpose was the
preservation of rare and historic crafts. From the
vision of those pioneers, not only has the Festival
Of Craftsmen at Silver Dollar City
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Silver Dollar City's
Festival of Music and Craftmanship
September 4 to October 25
Photo courtesy of
Silver Dollar City
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become an annual event for these past forty years,
drawing craftsman and visitors alike to the Ozarks,
but now Silver Dollar City has taken that same
vision one step further with their Craft College
and Craftsman For A Day programs. These annual
events allow visitors to work with a craftsman in
residence at SDC and also provide for classes that
attract students from all over the United States
and Canada. However the premier event is the annual
wood carving seminar, the 2003 event having been
held the first week in March.
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The voluminous Red
Gold Hall was jam packed with students and
instructors.
TMT Staff
Photo by Ann Crabtree
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The
gracious folks at Silver Dollar City were kind
enough to allow your Message Tree staff to drop by
one afternoon during the wood carving seminar where
we took the accompanying photos and visited with
several of the 36 talented instructors, who were
teaching their students how to carve everything
from 6 foot wooden Indians down to the small
miniature figurines. Other students were busy
learning how to realistically paint or studying
other techniques in finishing their woodwork,
thereby honing their craft.
Many
of the more than 360 attendees at the 2003 wood
carving seminar have participated each of the seven
years since Bernie Frigon of Reeds Spring was asked
by his supervisor at Silver Dollar City to help put
the event together. Mr. Frignon, now semi-retired,
managed with the help of other dedicated carvers to
bring in 17 instructors and 170 students that first
year. Since then the event has grown and expanded
to include seminars in other disciplines, including
quilting, porcelain doll making, cut and curl
candles, basket making, and many other crafts too
numerous to list here. Mr. Ellison, our host from
SDC told us that there were over 150 students
enrolled in these other classes.
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Mr. Ellison, on the left, our host
from SDC told us that there were over 150
students patcipating in classes other than
wood carving.
TMT Staff
Photo by Ann Crabtree
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Being
a woodcarver myself, I never tire in watching other
carvers pick up a knife or a gouge, and with each
stroke, each chip of wood removed, see creativity
come alive, to see a work of art emerge out of a
piece of wood. It was obvious that everyone in
attendance at the seminar was certainly having a
good time, not only in creating an item that they
can take home with them, an item that will become a
heirloom they will pass down from generation to
generation, but for those that have attended for
several years, the event takes on the atmosphere of
a family reunion. The students were also renewing
old friendships made at previous seminars, with
peers that in some cases, they only get to see one
time a year at the event. The whole seminar is such
a wonderful experience, one made possible by Silver
Dollar City, and the vision of those pioneers of
forty years ago who saw a need to preserve the
cultural heritage of handicrafts.
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Students not only learned how to
make their own dulcimers, but instructor
Troy Heard also taught them to play the
historic instrument.
TMT Saff
photo Ann Crabtree
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Well,
if you missed the 2003 wood carving and other
seminars, check with Silver Dollar City and make
plans to attend the 2004 event to be held March
1-5. When visiting SDC this season you can drop by
the Valley Road Woodcarver's Shop and those
friendly folks will be happy to tell you about the
2004 seminar or call 1-800-695-1353 for more
information. Hey, they even have e-mail,
woodcarvers@silverdollarcity.com
and a website, www.silverdollarcity.com.
But
wait, you still yet have time to participate in
their 2003 craft college classes! Courses will be
held all through the 2003 tourist season and
include, Basket Weaving, Bead Making, Bear Making,
Bow Making (archery,) Calligraphy, Candle Making,
Chair Weaving, Colonial Candle wicking, Crochet,
Cut & Curl Candles, Doll Making, Dulcimer,
Embroidery, Felting, Flint Knapping, Fly Tying,
Floral Design, Furniture Making, Glass Blowing,
Hardanger Embroidery, Herbs, High Whorl Spinning,
Journal Making, Cotton Spinning, Knitting, Knife
Making, Lace Making (tatting,) Leather Working,
Painting, Drawing, Framing, Papermaking, Quilting,
Pen & Ink, Raffia Weaving, Rainbow Dye Yarn,
Rug Crochet, Rug Hooking, Sand-casting, Scrimshaw,
Shaker Tape Stools, Soap Making, Twilling, Wheat
Weaving, Willow Furniture, and Wood Turning. And
for you history buffs they even have Walker Powell
who will speaking on local history! Mr. Powell was
around these parts long before Silver Dollar City
was thought of and he knows just about everything
about the Ozarks of yesterday.
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Join instructors Terry Bloodworth, Ray
Jones, and Todd Nelson, when they teach
the art of Glass Blowing later on this
year, call for details.
Photo
courtesy of Silver Dollar City
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And
if that isn't enough, you can try your hand at
being a Craftsman For A day, and enjoy the
experience of working shoulder to shoulder with a
resident craftsman. For example you can be a Baker
at Sullivan's Mill, Basket Maker at D. Ellison's
Basket Shop, Blacksmith at the Blacksmith Shop,
Candle Crafter at Carrie's Candle Shop, Knife Maker
at Mtn. Outfitters, Leather Crafter at Mtn.
Leather, Photographer at the Tintype Shop, Printer
at Madison's Mercantile, Silversmith at Cornerstone
Fine Metals, Soap Maker at Lye Soap, Taffy Maker at
Mtn. Taffy.
Don't
forget the young'uns, SDC even has classes for them
too! Tuition fees range from around $10.00 for some
of the children's events, to several hundred for
adult level seminars that involve the larger, more
extensive crafts. But if you compare their rates to
other specialty classes taught at various locations
around the country, Silver Dollar City's fees are
really very competitive, and the class sizes are
limited to small groups, so that you are assured of
personal attention from your instructor.
In
closing, Silver Dollar City is more than just
another theme park; it has become a very important
part of the history and heritage of the Ozarks. The
Herschend family has continued to build upon the
dream and vision of Mary Herschend, and they have
given so much back to the community, not only in
entertaining the millions of visitors that have
enjoyed the beautiful setting, the thrilling rides,
and the various festivals held each year, but also
through their philanthropy and in working to teach
others in order to preserve our rich American
heritage. So check out their website,
www.silverdollarcity.com
and discover your past.
The Message Tree
would like to thank the Herschend Family
Entertainment Corporation for thier hospitality and
their continuing efforts in preserving the heritage
of the Ozarks.
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Stone
Creek Crossing
