19th Tennessee Classic

[bentstick54]

Was there from Wednesday evening thru Sunday morning. Had a wonderful time. Met lots of new friends, learned alot, and enjoyed shooting with some of my new friends. I was amazed on how well things were run. My hats off to Pappy, Miss Joanie, and all the Twin Oaks crew for an exceptional job well done.
Definitely one of the best shoots I have ever attended. Twin Oaks is an amazing place, but it is the people that make it so. Not a finer bunch anywhere.
Thanks to all and with luck and God willing, I hope to be back. Brian

[Pappy]

Thanks guys, glad yall enjoyed. I will have more pictures later, thanks for sharing yours and thanks for all the new friendships made this year. That's is what it is all about.
 Pappy

[Parnell]

I got home safely at 2 in the morning Monday.  Always a really long drive home, but well worth it.
It was, as always, lots of fun and great to see everyone.  I'll get some of my pictures up!

Thanks Pappy and crew!

[H Rhodes]

Pappy and the Twin Oaks folks put on another fantastic shoot.  The course was truly amazing and getting better every year.  One stage let you walk out of the woods into a field filled with caribou - they brought Alaska to Tennessee!   Great job guys!!

[Forest_Farmer]

Even though I didn't get there until Friday night, I made the most of the time I had.  Thanks to Dan for saving me a spot for my hammock, and to Greg and Sharron for feeding just after pulling in, it made me feel at home again. 

Pappy, the place has never looked better and your team did a hell of a job, can't thank you enough!

I met up with many old friends, and met some of my virtual PA friends like Outback Bob. We even got to twist out a hand drill fire, thx Bob. It was also great meeting RT and James, Pat B and a bunch more of the PA brethren.

For me the highlight of this year's classic was being able to pass on friction fire knowledge. It started Saturday night with James Parker doing a great job of showing a group the finer points on making hand drill fires "in really most conditions". Then we broke out the bow drill and had seven or eight people make their first friction fires. Matt Wirwicki built his first friction fire that night, which was special to me because Matt helped me make my first bow.

 What I really enjoyed most was helping Robin "RT" make his first friction fire. After several attempts Saturday night, we went back at it Sunday morning and Robin turned out a nice ember and blue it into flames.  The look on his face was priceless.

I didn't get any pics of that, but I know some were taken, so if sometime could post them that would be great.

So now the countdown begins for the 20th TN Classic, only about 362 days 

Cheers,
Ed "Forest Farmer"

[Pat B]

Ed, I'm one person that got my first friction fire with your tools and instructions. What a thrill it was for me. I never got beyond the smoke stage before. It was good to see you again even though we didn't see much of each other last year. Hopefully those 300+ days will fly and we can all get together again

[Forest_Farmer]

That's right Pat ,I now remember your beaming smile after you easily got flame.

We took a 12" spindle and wore it down to 5" pretty quick, there was a lot of smoke being made that night.   

When I plan a trip to Asheville this summer I'll send you a PM, hopefully we'll have time to meet up in NC.

Cheers,
Ed

[Pat B]

Ed, if you are in the area at the end of July(29,30,31) that's when I have the primitive skills weekend. You'd fit right in. It's just a small, intimate gathering(10 to 15 folks) but we always have lots of fun. 

[Badly Bent]

Well we had a great time on our annual pilgrimage to the TN Classic, fantastic hospitality by the whole twin oaks crew once again.
I didn't get any pictures and can't point to any one highlight as it was all good fun and no low moments to be had.

My grandson came along for the first time and had a great time himself. When he wasn't in the creek with his newly made young friends or shooting arrows he was hanging around the knapping pit asking questions of the pros. Stringman and Bowmo each gave the youngster a beautifully knapped point which really excited him, and Iowa Bow took time to give him his first knapping lesson and sent him home with a bone flaker and some stone to practice on. Thanks guys for being so kind and generous to him, he is really fascinated with rocks and points and even more so now thanks to getting some encouragement from you fellas.

Thanks again Pappy and crew.

[TomC]

All I can say is WOW! This was my first Tennessee Classic.  It will definitely not be my last.  Had an amazing time.  Pappy and friends made me feel right at home.  Met a lot of great people.  Got to build my first selfbow.  The property was awesome.  The course setups were incredible.  The food was delicious...especially the Pappy Burger! What a great experience.  Thank you Twin Oaks.  Thank you Pappy and Joanie.  Thanks to my buddies at Hawkeye for including me on this trip.

[koan]

As always, I had a great time 👍...got me fired up to knap again 😄... Pappy and crew... Thankya!... Brian

[Pappy]

Thanks again, I posted all my pictures on Life is good, check them out when you get a chance and share some of yours.
 Pappy

[bowmo]

I had a great time. Tough place to pack up and leave.

[---GUTSHOT--->]

Enjoyed my first Classic. To bad I could only be there Saturday only. I plan on next year 2-3 days at least. Enjoyed the 3-D course and meeting everybody. Pappy hope you enjoy your molasses. See everybody next year.

[Josh B]

Pappy, Miss Joanie and the whole twin oaks crew...you can add my sincere gratitude for putting on a great event and putting up with this wayward trucker for a few days.  I highly enjoyed myself...as always at twinoaks.  Pappy did you get a chance to sample that cider?  Josh