Blacksmithing Classes offered at the Hasbrouck Carriage House, Warwick, NY!

The following is the Warwick Historical Society's blacksmithing course offering for August 11 & 12. If you are interested please contact me as instructed below. Take a look at: historicwarwickny.blogspot.com for more details. Scroll through the site as there is a lot of content related to blacksmithing. I look forward to seeing you at the anvil at the Hasbrouck Carriage House, 105 Main St., Warwick, NY. 

Sincerely, 

Bob 

Robert Schmick, Ph.D.
Executive Director
The Historical Society
Town of Warwick
A.W. Buckbee Center
2 Colonial Avenue
P.O.Box 353
Warwick, New York 10990
845-781-3729

Blacksmithing Classes at the Hasbrouck Carriage House Behind Baird's Tavern on August 11 &12, 2012, additional classes available on August 13 & 14 for an additional $50 each day.

$325, includes use of tools and metal materials

This class will be taught by our returning Maine Blacksmith Adriaan Gerber who will be sharing his trade with Summer History Campers during the preceeding week. As a follow-up to our recent beginning blacksmithing class we are offering this weekend, 16 hour class, 8-hours each day, in the making of edge tools.

Adriaan makes high quality knives, swords, halberds and other edge tools in his Maine smithy and sells them around the world. Now he will be sharing his know-how with you in this class that will result in the completion of a tomahawk ( you can even make a handle for it if you would like to devote the time to it at a shaving horse), a knife, and another project depending on time. A draw knife or slick are two possibilities.

The course can continue on into the next week for those who are free to do so, and there will be an additional fee of $50 for each day beyond the 2-day course.

The class will involve safety, fire building (we use vintage coal burning forges), heating metal, shaping, cutting, and forge welding. We prefer that students have some blacksmithing experience although it is not mandatory. The class is limited to six so there will be personal attention given by Adriaan and his assistant Robert Schmick to each of the students.

Call: 845-781-3729 or 845-986-3236 or email: rpschmick1@aol.com for information and registration. Please act now if you are serious as the class is limited to six.

"Woodlands Interpreter" in Warwick August 7th

As a special treat at the A.W. Buckbee Center, on August 7, 7-8:30PM, The Warwick Historical Society will present Ken Hamilton, the “Woodlands Interpreter”; this is a costumed performance of early 18^th century Native American life in the New York wilderness. Hamilton is a key contributor to the program at this year’s Warwick Historical Society Summer History Camp; he has set up an authentic camp at the Historical Society complete with lodge for the week's activities.

Hamilton is an accomplished blacksmith, silversmith, leather master, stone carver and a professional history interpreter who makes prized historical reproductions of late 17^th and early 18^th century French, Dutch, English, Swedish and the like trade objects from early American colonial history. Hamilton is well versed in the colonial trade period having produced numerous examples of historically accurate goods crafted from authentic examples in his own personal collection.

 At one outdoor history program for middle school students Hamilton donned an authentic Wabanaki costume, set up camp next to a pond amongst beaver gnawed tree stumps, and assumed a persona that left many with their mouths’ agape; this is what this proposed fundraiser hopes to achieve for the audience. This program will be specific to Native American culture in this region.

My first acquaintance with Ken Hamilton was while he worked as a costumed interpreter at Fort Ticonderoga some fifteen years ago”, said Dr. Robert Schmick, executive director of the Warwick Historical Society. “The authenticity of his dress and manner were unmatched; his immodest and revealing costume recreates for the modern onlooker something equivalent to the unnerving exoticism experienced by Europeans a couple of centuries or more ago.”

Later we met again in Maine, said Dr. Schmick, and we organized a blacksmithing class entitled “Tools and Hardware of the Historic Fur Trade” which resulted in blacksmithing students, including myself, learning to make a forge welded tomahawk, strike-o-light, and a hunting knife. As a professional interpreter who has developed programs for museums and schools throughout the northeast, Hamilton has garnered much attention. His wife Nikki, a Penobscot, often joins him in all day school and museum programs making prized baskets in 17^th or 18^th century character.

Hamilton’s work has been represented in film documentaries and films (some of his costumes and reproduction tools and weapons were used in the film The Last of the Mohicans), museum exhibits, private collections and frontier oriented Native American art galleries. Ken was an integral contributor to the development of the living history presentation of a Wapanoag village at Plimoth Plantation advising interpreters on the recreation of Native American life in proximity to the Colonial New England settlement presented.

Johnson Hall in upstate New York also exhibits his hand-made historical reproductions of trade items helping to recreate a home once inhabited by British Indian Affairs agent William Johnson, a European who bridged the European world with Native Americans including Joseph Brant, his brother-in-law, who touched our own region as a foe to the Warwick Militia at the Battle of Minisink one July day in 1779.

For more information call: 845-986-3236, or email us at whs@warwick.net. The A.W. Buckbee Center is located in the former Albert Wisner Public Library at 2 Colonial Avenue, Warwick, NY. Suggested donation: $10; proceeds to go the Historical Society and the performer.

2012 Chapter Picnic

This is the only picture I took at the picnic. I meant to take more but got side tracked with napping and atlatl throwing and eating hahaha, sorry. It was a lot of fun, the weather was great and it was a pretty good turn out. 

Steph

If anyone else took pictures or would like to write about the picnic, send them to IOCCNYSAA

CALL FOR PAPERS: 26th ANNUAL HIGHLANDS CONFERENCE

CALL FOR PAPERS

26^th ANNUAL HIGHLANDS CONFERENCE

Hosted by

INC. ORANGE COUNTY CHAPTER, NYSAA

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF NEW JERSEY

NORTH JERSEY HIGHLANDS HISTORICAL SOCIETY

FRIENDS OF STERLING FOREST

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2012

LAUTENBURG VISITOR CENTER, STERLING FOREST STATE PARK

115 OLD FORGE ROAD, TUXEDO, NY

Archaeologists and historians, professional and avocational, are invited to speak at Saturday’s conference.  Presentations  should be no more than 25 minutes long and may be illustrated with slides or other graphic materials.  A PowerPoint projector is available.  

Kindly submit a title and abstract to Edward J. Lenik, Program Chair, via email at edlenik@hotmail.com or snail mail at Edward J. Lenik at 100 Deerfield Road, Wayne, NJ 97470-6414 by September 1, 2012 to be considered for the program.  Please include your affiliation and a brief biography.

Traditionally, this conference features a morning hike or field trip in the Highlands and an afternoon of papers on topics in Northeastern history or archaeology.

Questions?  Call Ed Lenik at 973-835-0770 between 9AM and 4PM Monday through Friday.

REGISTRATION:  The conference is free and open to the public.  No registration is necessary.

BOOKROOM:  Books on historical and archaeological topics will be available for sale. Please let Ed know if you would like to set up a display in the book room.

Registration is now open for Save Pennsylvania's Past final three training sessions!

Save Pennsylvania's Past is a statewide effort to preserve the millions of objects and historic artifacts that shape the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's history and define our nation. Now in its second year, this two-year initiative is preparing staff to address the challenges threatening Pennsylvania's world-class collections through training programs and online resources.

ESSENTIAL POLICIES & PROCEDURES FOR CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS
This program will provide an overview of the policy and planning documents that are essential for collections care, such as collections management policies, handling guidelines, and maintenance policies.

Schedule:
September 11, 2012 Erie 
September 12, 2012 Pittsburgh 
September 19, 2012 Johnstown 
September 20, 2012 Boalsburg 
October 9, 2012 Allentown
October 10, 2012 Scranton 
October 18, 2012 York
October 22, 2012 Philadelphia 

FUNDRAISING FOR PRESERVATION & CONSERVATION
This workshop will examine the planning process that funders want to see in place and the elements of a successful grant proposal. With examples drawn from success stories at museums, historic sites, libraries, and archives, program participants will gain an understanding of how to effectively develop and implement a funding strategy to raise money for their collections.

Schedule:
November 7, 2012 Johnstown 
November 8, 2012 Boalsburg 
December 11, 2012 Allentown
December 12, 2012 Scranton 
January 8, 2013 Philadelphia 
January 10, 2013 York 
May 21, 2013 Erie 
May 22, 2013 Pittsburgh 

PROTECTING COLLECTIONS: DISASTER PREVENTION, PLANNING, & RESPONSE
This two-part program will guide participants in risk mitigation, emergency planning and preparedness, response, and recovery.

Schedule:
March 13 & April 23, 2013 Erie 
March 14 & April 24, 2013 Pittsburgh 
March 19 & May 1, 2013 Philadelphia 
March 26 & May 8, 2013 Johnstown 
March 27 & May 9, 2013 Boalsburg 
April 9 & May 14, 2013 Allentown
April 10 & May 15, 2013 Scranton 
April 30 & June 11, 2013 York 

Please visit http://www.cvent.com/d/pcq7y3 for more information and to register.

Save Pennsylvania's Past is an initiative led by CCAHA in partnership with the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission, PA Museums, and LYRASIS. The project is supported by an Institute of Museum and Library Services Connecting to Collections Statewide Implementation Grant, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Arthur Ross Foundation, Inc.

About CCAHA

The Conservation Center for Art & Historic Artifacts (CCAHA) is the country's largest nonprofit conservation facility serving cultural, research and educational institutions, as well as individuals and private organizations. CCAHA's mission is to provide expertise and leadership in the preservation of the world's cultural heritage. CCAHA specializes in the treatment of works of art on paper, such as drawings, prints, maps, posters, historic wallpaper, photographs, rare books, scrapbooks, and manuscripts, along with related materials like parchment and papyrus. CCAHA also offers digital imaging services, on-site consultations, educational programs, fellowships, and emergency conservation services.

For information on additional educational opportunities, visit www.ccaha.org or find us on Facebook.

KIMBERLY MAGYAR
Preservation Services Assistant
264 S. 23RD STREET
PHILADELPHIA, PA  19103
t 215.545.0613 f 215.735.9313
e KMAGYAR@CCAHA.ORG

Florist Site Update

Hi everyone! We have returned to the florist site to continue our investigation. Our first day back was spent cleaning up the site and preparing it for the season. Thank you so much to Gary Sipla who did an amazing job clearing our path into the site, it makes it easier than ever to get in and out! So far we have found another partial point and more flakes as we close in on the remainder of our shovel test pit grid.

 Still lots to do and hope that everyone can make it out during the season! We will be switching the start time back to 9am, as it gets very hot by lunchtime. Also note we will not be digging this Sunday 7/8 and I hope to see everyone at our annual Chapter Picnic that day instead! 

Stephanie

Tracking Prehistoric Environments in the Black Dirt: Paleontologist Lecture

On Wed. July 11 at 6:30 the Albert Wisner Public Library will host Dr. Guy Robinson of Fordham University for his lecture “From the Black Dirt to the World: Solving the Problem of Prehistoric Extinctions.”  Robinson, a paleoecologist at Fordham University, has spent many years studying the fossils of our area and the environment of the Pleistocene era. Specializing in the study of fossil plant pollens, he is helping piece together clues about the disappearance of the Mastodons and other large prehistoric animals, and what this means for the challenges facing us in our world today.  Open to all area adults, teens, and attentive children ages 10 and up with a parent.  Registration is highly recommended as space for this free program is limited.  Register at www.albertwisnerlibrary.org or call 986-1047 ext.3.  A companion exhibit featuring locally found fossils will be showing in the library’s local history room throughout the summer.

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Sue GardnerLocal History Librarian
Town of Warwick Deputy Historian Albert Wisner Public LibraryOne Mcfarland Dr.
Warwick NY 10990
(845)-986-1047 ext 23
Office hours at library: Tuesday & Wednesday 9 AM-12 Noon & Thursdays 5-8 PM.  In-depth local history assistance by appointment.

Visit the Warwick Valley History Website at: www.albertwisnerlibrary.org, click on "Local History".