[ Speak yer piece | The Powder Horn ]
Posted by Big Smoke Most cordially,
on December 31, 2005, 10:14:55, in reply to "Re: Rendezvous for 2006"
Steve,
Good points you brought up. The newbie needs to be brought into the sport, whether it be by classes, as you suggested, or by whatever means are available.
RE: Classes. In some of the larger events, there are indeed teaching sessions in most any discipline one can imagine. But, please remember, the resources these require are more than really meets the eye, including the relative size of the event. Now, if you hae a small to medium size event of 100-200 people attending, how many people would be interested in attending a class on bow string making? Probably fewer than one on Dutch Oven Cooking. BUT - how authentic is Dutch Oven Cooking on the frontier? Probably more so by acceptance than by authenticity. Should there be classes taught in beading or in quillwork. Quillwork would be more appropos, but is this a BYORK (bring your own road kill) class or will the quills be provided in the class. If so, well, how many should the instructor bring?
Having been doing this bit of insanity called muzzleloading and buckskinning since the 1970's (groan, makes me feel old just thinking about it), I don't recall having a lot of instruction periods at rendezvous. I was in it for the shooting and the trading. You picked up stuff kinda automatically, some was right on, other stuff was bogus. Throw it all up in the air and let the wind seperate the wheat from the chafe. Hit the libraries and find source books. The Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron, NE has lots of good reference, too. Also Muzzleblasts and Muzzleloader magazines.
Anyway, that's kinda the way I did it. Thirty plus years in the muzzleloading business, 40 plus years in muzzleloading, it worked for me. Of course, your mileage may vary depending on the octane of the fuel.
Have a great '06, and do keep the faith. It's a good way to spend a weekend or a life.
Big Smoke
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