I’ve been shooting a bow since I was a little kid- I still have my first bow—a Ben Pearson fiberglass 20# long bow that was taller than me. My Uncle introduced me to archery. He hunted with one of the early Bear fiberglass recurves (late 40'-early 50's) My dad was quite a gun hunter with trips to Africa and the Far North— I still remember struggling to pull my first bow---hard to believe that was 60 years ago-and we still shoot a Bear recurve my dad got for me when I was in highschool—I remember his story of stopping at the Bear Archery Company in Grayling…… I have been making my own bows for quite awhile—just for fun----fortunately I do garden--——and very grateful for the TBB!!
My wife and I went to Cuba Illinois to make our first stave self bows with Bernie Swank in the mid 90’s. My family lives near Bellingham, WA so when we visited (once a year) we had to spend time at Northwest Archery. We have vivid memories of the kindness of the St. Charles family, and getting a personal tour of the museum by Glenn St. Charles.; autographed books by him are treasured. My brother and I made some beautiful yew long bows with Jay St. Charles, and later my brother and I headed to Bernie Swank’s for another round of working on Osage. Wonderful memories of great times together with good folks.
My wife and I cashed out two years ago and are building an artisan dairy/creamery on 46 acres east of South Haven, Michigan. We are a Grade A dairy milking 60 dairy goats and a herd of 20 dairy water buffalo-at least there better be twenty to milk this season or they’ll be heading to freezer camp. They get more focused on putting milk in the bucket when I tell them I have a dream of making a water buffalo horn-sinew bow----- We shoot on a regular basis, my wife is an outstanding archer, and when there is time I work on arrows, bows and knap points using obsidian my nephews and brother sent me from Glass Butte. Everything has a story.
We’ve met a number of you at various gatherings. I like this forum—I’ve been a guest for years. I like the rules-I like the encouragement and the spirit. The craftsmanship and creativity are outstanding! I like the international community here. But I need to say that one of the greatest attractions for me in doing primitive/traditional archery is the connection with our past , the ethics and respect, and that everything we touch bows, arrows, feathers, and the skills we learn—all have their own story- that defines each of uspersonally and as a community.
Thanks……
