George Roberts wins Best Hunter and Best of Show 2018

Transcription

1 Western Canada Knife Association Volume 18 Number 3 May 2018 Executive: President: Larry Strandquist Treasurer: Rod Olson Vice President: Bob Turner Membership: Bev Clow Secretary: Linda Nelson Newsletter Editor: Diane Hatt George Roberts wins Best Hunter and Best of Show 2018 The 2018 Kamloops Show and AGM was well attended and, by all accounts, very enjoyable. Please see all the highlights of the weekend in this newsletter, along with other events past and present.

2 President's Report Larry Strandquist Spring has finally got here and it is time for another report so here goes. After attending the Calgary show (just visiting) and seeing old friends returned home to prepare for my first show of the season. Had a good show at the Consort Gun show. Then got ready to go to Kamloops for the annual meeting. It was a great time visiting old and new knife makers. It appears the collaboration knife did well, as most of the tickets were sold. Jay Kemble sold the winning ticket to a fellow in Milk River and delivered the knife to him. Hope he can post a picture of the lucky winner. Thanks goes out to all the folks that sold tickets to help our organization. Went to visit with the Hatts after the show and spent a great time visiting with Ron, Gerry, Jay, Maureen, Cora, Roger and Diane. Thank you Roger and Diane for your great hospitality. Roger had us help haul some nice burl to pay for our supper. Would have liked to spend more time out there but had to get home and get ready for the Red Deer show. The next big event for me will be the show at Wetaskiwin. If you have never had a chance to see this show or the museum, you should attend. I m sure that you will not be disappointed. Hope to see you all there. Until next time we meet - keep em sharp. Page 2

3 After the most successful collaboration knife raffle to date, there was much anticipation when the time for the draw came on Sunday afternoon. One of the Sea Cadets did the honor of drawing the winning ticket from the barrel, as Larry Strandquist, WCKA President, and one of the participants, watches on (left). The winner was from Jay Kemble's hometown of Milk River. Below Jay makes the all important phone call under the watchful eye of Larry and Jim Clow. And the winner is... Allen O'Hara Milk River, AB Back home, Jay presented the beautiful knife to a very appreciative Allen. Jay had finished the knife and made the very impressive display case. I am sure that Allen will admire this beautiful art piece for many years to come. Page 3

4 Remembering Frank A group of WCKA members joined the Niro family on Saturday evening to share stories and hear about the amazing life of Frank Niro. Several WCKA members also shared memories of Frank, including Elliott Reiter and Ron Nelson, below. Although Frank is no longer with us physically, he lives on with us spiritually every time we look at a quality knife or think of a tip he gave to a fellow maker. Frank's daughter Cindy, left, told us about the multi faceted man that her father was, explaining that knife making was just one of many talents that her Dad had his whole life. She also stressed how Frank was always a 'teacher' and love to share his knowledge with others, and how Peggy was a constant support and partner in his life. Below, Frank's other daughter, Daria, shares a family story while other family members look on. Thanks, Frank, for sharing your life with us. Thanks goes to Ron Nelson who acted as the MC for this event. Page 4

5 The traditional group photo was taken just before the beginning of the 2018 AGM. Lots of interesting things were discussed at this meeting and the minutes are included here for your information. WCKA 2018 Annual General Meeting Minutes April 21, 2018 Call to Order at 6:30 pm with 19 members present Annual Photo Approval of Agenda M/S/C Announcement of 2018 Knife Competition Winners Larry Strandquist Best Culinary Chris Kluftinger Best Folder Stan Moizis Best Hunter George Roberts Best Miniature Garth Hindmarch Best Art Bob Turner Best Damascus Jim Clow New Maker Ed Jensen Best of Show George Roberts Approval of Minutes of AGM 2017 M/S/C Larry Strandquist opened meeting and gave thank yous to various members including Jim and Bev Clow, Roger Hatt, Diane Hatt, Ron Nelson and the members who attended the meeting. Executive Reports: Page 5

6 President's Report Larry Strandquist On behalf of the membership, Larry extended our very best wishes to Linda Nelson for a speedy recovery from her recent treatments. He mentioned that he has enjoyed being President over the past year. He looks forward to seeing members at the Wetaskiwin Metal Art Show and Sale in September, and at various other events that will be held over the summer months. Treasurer's Report Diane Hatt Diane presented the report on behalf of Rod Olson who was unable to attend this year. The closing balance as of April 16, 2018 is $10, Anyone who wished to see the entire report was welcome to see Diane on Sunday. Because neither Rod nor Linda Nelson, our two signing officers, were in attendance this year,. Bev offered to pay any outstanding bills with club cash on Sunday and keep an itemized list for Rod's records. Approval of Report M/S/C Secretary's Report Ron Nelson Linda sends her regrets that she was unable to attend this year. There was nothing of importance to report to the membership General Reports: Membership Bev Clow As of AGM, we have 187 members. Bev says the new system for paying via e-transfers and internet banking has made renewals much easier. Newsletter Diane Hatt Diane has continued to get 5 editions out throughout the year. She encourages and appreciates the articles that members forward to her. Feedback from members indicate that a favourite section is the Member Profile. If you haven't already submitted yours, please do! If all the stars align properly, Diane and Roger are planning on some extensive travels next year which would mean missing several WCKA activities. Because of that, Diane is officially giving notice that her last newsletter will be December She would be willing to help a new editor get started and perhaps co-edit the first newsletter. Please let her know as soon as possible if you are interested in taking over this position. dianehatt@hotmail.com Knife Raffle 2017 Ron Nelson Once again this years raffle was a huge success. The greatest number of tickets ever were sold this year, thanks in great part to the persistence of Jay Kemble. WCKA website Ron Nelson The website posts upcoming events, membership lists and newsletters. The revolving photo gallery is always changing. The club get a break from the web master that looks after our site, and it is updated 2 or 3 times per year. WCKA Lending Library Jim Clow Use of the DVDs has slowed down, probably because of the increased use of YouTube and internet videos. Club Clothing Jim Clow A big thank you to Gerry Kievit for ordering the remembrance ribbons for Frank's Celebration. They were very well received and the family, especially, were touched by the gesture. We still have lots of t-shirts and club pins available for purchase so new orders are not necessary at this time. Hospitality and Club Table Jim and Bev Clow The Club Table continues to be busy with interested public asking questions and with new and renewing memberships. This year the added benefit of the brochure made it easier to give the general public an overview of our club and its objectives. Page 6

7 Social and Club Events Larry Strandquist Networking with members is going well. In addition to the various shows that members attend throughout the year, two events are planned for this summer. The Raven Show and Sale in June hosted by Susan and Allen Neal The Strandquist Ranch Event in July Please see the newsletter for dates and let the organizers know asap if you plan to attend. Old Business: Collaboration Knife Raffle 1017/18 project feedback The blade damascus that Jesse Bartram made is amazing, as is the final presentation by Jay Kemble. As is obvious from the amount of tickets sold, it was a roaring success! Thank you to Jesse, Larry, Jay and Charlie for making it happen. WCKA Business card update Ron Nelson Ron has lots of cards to hand out. Frank Niro Honorary Life Membership Roger Hatt and Ron Nelson Ron and Roger told the membership about the afternoon when they went to Frank and Peggy's home to present Frank with his Lifetime Membership. Frank was very touched by the recognition, as was Peggy. In hindsight, it was even more special than first thought. New Business: Elections All board positions remain the same. Discussion of Single Maker Knife Raffle for Larry Strandquist George Roberts accepted the invitation to do this knife. Discussion re approval of scholarship criteria towards a knife-making coursework or grades Bob Turner Bob indicated that there was virtually no feedback on this from his committee members, so nothing to report. However, he had done a fair amount of reflection and had some questions about it... How could the money be used... tools, books, etc.? Who would qualify? How would the person be chosen? What if there were more than one request in a calendar year? Lots of questions about the logistics of doing it. There was some discussion on the overall reason to have it. Education is part of our mandate, and is this education for the membership as a whole rather than individuals, even if those individuals agree to share their experience with everyone. Bob will send out another to the committee and request that he receive any input by September and the Wetaskiwin Show. The Committee members are Roger Hatt, Jim Clow, Ron Nelson and Elliott Reiter with the committee headed by Bob Turner. New Knife Competition Judging Sheets Roger Hatt and Ron Nelson Worked well for this years competition. Benefits of Being a WCKA Member promotion sheet The membership thanked Ron and Linda Nelson for taking this on and making a very informative brochure that will be available at the club table, complete with a professional plastic holder. Other Business: Page 7

8 Just Knife Shows There was a general discussion on the merits of having a show just for knife makers. It was decided that this is not the time to do it, but perhaps it could be revisited next year, if someone was willing to organize such an event. Where? When? Who? How? Facebook/web page A discussion developed because of how our membership list is being accessed by 'outsiders' and used to promote materials, etc. from various companies and individuals not associated with the WCKA. At this time, it was decided that it is up to individual members to either have their information deleted from the web page and/or simply delete any unwanted solicitations. Diane will contact Kim Leclair about keeping WCKA Facebook posting for members only. Meeting was adjourned at 7:30 Best of Show and Best Hunter George Roberts 2018 Knife Competition Results Best Culinary Chris Kluftinger Best Damascus Jim Clow Best Folder Stan Moizis New Maker Ed Jensen Best Miniature Garth Hindmarch Best Art Bob turner Once again there were many entries into the knife competition. Although there continues to be growing pains as this gets streamlined, it was still well received. Thanks to Del, Lee and Roger for judging and to Maureen and Vi for being supervisors for the area. Page 8

9 Friday Fun! A fairly large crowd gathered in the parking lot on Frday night for the annual BBQ and visit. Although the weather was not really warm, the company was great and many stories were shared. Thanks to Roger for BBQ and everyone helping with set up and clean up! Page 9

10 Left, Darcy Ellis had some helpers at his table this year, while at right, Dave Hardy says hi to Ron Nelson and Bev Clow at the Club Table. Left, Doug Freiheit had a large selection of knives to look at. Right, Ed Jensen demonstrated cord wrapping on a knife handle. Garth Simpson had an interesting way to display his knives. It was nice to see Cec and Vi Harder with a large number of knives at this year's show. Maureen and Jay Kemble always have an attractive display of various things on their table. Page 10

11 Mike and Evelyn Pisio Roger and Diane Hatt Gerry Kievit The Main Event... the Show on Saturday and Sunday Jim, George and the Wiebes have a chat, above, while Shane Alexander watches over his display, below Jacob and Matt Rehman were busy all weekend. Ron's displays are always a draw for people and this year's one of Linda's Miniatures was no different. This young man looks like he's dreaming of collecting some of his own! Page 11

12 Saturday Night Special... After a long day, many members decided to forego the Saturday night get together in the parking lot. For the few who chose to attend, they were treated to a wonderful barbecued pork tenderloin with salad prepared by our own Chris Kluftinger. Lots of stories were shared and laughter created. Thanks, Chris. So special! Penticton Show and Tell... The week before the Kamloops Show, the Hatts and the Harders traveled down to Penticton for the Penticton Gun Show. It was there that we welcomed a new knife enthusiast, Don Dinsmore, into the WCKA. Page 12

13 Reflections on the AACCA Easter Show in Calgary Bob Sainsbury, above, and Clare Broeksma, below, had beautiful knives to look at. Doug Freiheit, below, has a great motto Life is too short to hunt with an ugly knife Dennis Paish had a variety of products on his table, above. Below, Roger Hatt and Darby Grady share a joke! Edward Kuznetsov always has lots to look at! Calgary is one of the first major shows of the year, and it is always great to travel to 'The Windy City' to meet up with WCKA members that we sometimes see only this one time through the year. The weather was cold and windy for most of the weekend, and by all accounts the attendance was significantly lower than in previous years, but some members reported that they had a great show sales wise, and everyone enjoyed the networking that happens at these events. Page 13

14 Jim and Bev Clow are wonderful ambassadors for the WCKA at the club table while Maureen Kemble, Gerry Kievit and Diane Hatt proudly wear the club t-shirt. Garth Simpson with his creative display Matt and Jacob Rehman have a visit with Allen and Susan Neal. Betty and Dave Gibbs stop by Jay Wests table at the Calgary Show. Morris Nesdole was looking very relaxed at his attractive table. Page 14

15 Ardvan Austin always has interesting shirts.. this one was no different. Laurie Yeadell visited during the weekend as did Bob and Maggie Turner Maureen and Jay Kemble had big welcoming smiles at their table. Bob Clow visited and enjoyed some knife talk as well. The annual Friday night dinner is becoming a favourite thing and this year a large group met at the Keg to enjoy some entertaining conversation. Thank you Jay for getting this organized. Too bad it couldn't happen more often! Page 15

16 3RD Annual Raven Knife Show and Sale June Submitted by Susan Neal Allen and Susan Neal are very pleased to announce the 3nd Annual WCKA Raven Knife Show and Sale. Our campout has been growing every year and has been such a success both with the campout and the Sale. There was quite a bit of planning that go into the show and sale. We have made fliers and posted them all over Central Alberta already. We also have done a bit of advertising on our local Facebook pages. We also have signs and will be put up a week before the sale directions to the hall. I am also going to contact a couple of the local papers and radio stations this year. We will have a knife competition again this year. Categories are for Best table, Best folder, Best fixed blade and best Damascus. We are holding a raffle again this year, and it is up to you folks to bring some of your finished items or some useful things to donate. Keep in mind, what you buy in the raffle goes toward funding the event, paying for the plaques and buying supplies for the hot dog roast and the supper on Saturday night. We had an overwhelming response to the raffle last year. Also because there are a lot of ladies at this event, I would like to see some lady's stuff suitable to be raffled off as well. Activities are as follows: Thursday June 14th Gates to the hall will be open no sooner than 12:00pm. We will have a fire and catch up with what we had been doing for the winter. Bring your own food and drink. Friday June 15th will be a day full of activities. There is Dickson Dam, also the Markerville Creamery, and many things we can do on Friday. Also come join us over at the Double Tree Museum for a wagon ride at 4:00 pm. We will tour through the paths with beautiful draft horses pulling an antique style wagon. We will then tour through the museum itself, learning about historic farming practices and agriculture in the area. This will again be followed with a supplied hot dog roast on the beautiful manicured grounds of the museum. Cost is $10.00 per person. Ray will also give an opportunity for whoever wants to assist him in hitching the horses, and learn a bit about what raising and training these gentle giants is all about. Saturday June 16th We will have the Knife Show and Sale. It will be outside again weather permitting. Setup starts at 8AM, the knife competition runs from 8am to 9:30am. The show will start at 10am in the morning, and end at 3pm in the afternoon. Deadline for camping and entries for the knife show and sale is June 1, Entries must be received by s.neal@outlook.com Responsibility is on everyone to make sure they pay for the camping and the show. If you have not paid, you will not be eligible for the prizes so make sure you find Susan and pay her. Camping is 10 dollars per night. You must be a paid up WCKA member in order to participate in the knife show and sale. Page 16

17 Every year we have been invited to the Valley of Hope RC Fun Fly. These are remote controlled Airplanes for those of you who do not know. It is a big event around these parts. Some of us went over to watch for a while last year, and I would certainly like to go watch again this year. There were many people from the Fun Fly who attended our show. We are planning a big meal again for Saturday night. Betty Gibbs is heading this up and you can contact her if you would like to help with the meal. Her is bdgbbs@platinum.ca Her phone number is We are supplying pork ribs, baked potato, and caesar salad. If anyone would like to bring a salad or something else that would go with the meal that would be great! We hope that any of you who play an instrument will bring it and play by the fire Saturday night. Rob Ridley and Roger Hatt will bring their cannons and we will be blasting these off all weekend!! We had a fantastic time with that last year! Sunday, June 17th We will host a pancake breakfast complete with Sausages, pancakes, eggs and maple syrup. Please feel free to bring something to add to the table. Dave Gibbs will be in charge of the kitchen. We would appreciate the help of any members who would like to help with the cooking! If you would like to help or bring some stuff you can contact Dave and Betty Gibbs. We will wrap up our weekend around noon on Sunday after breakfast. We have had overwhelming response from both our fellow knife makers and a huge response from the community who are looking forward to the 3nd Annual Raven Knife Show and Sale. Please let us know if you would like to participate in helping put on a great show again this year! We hope to see more knife makers at this function in Wall St. Cattle will supply the firewood for the weekend. The facilities have a washroom; however no shower facilities. There are a couple of different motels, one in Spruce View, and another in Caroline. Contact me for information. We are also located only about 20 minutes away from Canadian Knifemaker Supply Ltd. Rob and Marilyn are camping at the event with us and would like to let everyone know that if you would like to place an order they will bring it with them to the event. However, the store is closed for the weekend. Keep in mind the deadline for entries for the weekend is June 1, 2018 and you must me by that time in order to participate! s.neal@outlook.coms or The above photo shows some of the fun at last year's event! Page 17

18 CAMP OUT AT THE RANCH JULY 20 & 21 HOSTED BY LARRY AND SUE STRANDQUIST AND HALLEY AND TRAVIS SPADY AT VALLEYMERE ANGUS RANCH Arrive Friday, July 20th for Meet & Greet Saturday morning - tour of the ranch For lunch we will take a short drive to a scenic outlook. Bring your lunch coolers, chairs, cameras, binoculars etc. After lunch we will take a drive to view some more scenery in the area. Drivers required, some gravel involved. We will then return to the ranch for a 'bring your own meat' pot luck supper. For those who wish to bring their horses, there are corrals available as a roping may break out. If you wish to do a raffle as we do at some of these gathering, let me know but as of now nothing is planned. Please bring some of your knives for a show and tell as some of the neighbors will be invited to rope and visit also. We may be able to go gopher shooting! Sunday morning we can plan a pot luck breakfast if you want. If you have any other ideas let me know and I ll see what we can do. If the weather turns bad we can adjourn to the shop. Please let me know if you plan to attend and I ll give you directions how to get there. This is boon docking event as no facilities are available but the bushes. There are motels close by if you need accommodation. Hoping to see you there! If you have any questions call me at or Larry at lsknives@xplornet.com Page 18

19 EVOLUTION OF TOOL MAKING NAIT College Edmonton Alberta. July 3-6 & 9-12 Matt Marti and myself (Ethan Harty) are leading two, "EVO" group SEMINARS at NAIT college in July! This is the SAME course that Alec Steele has made popular, based on Brian Brazeal's "tools to make tools curriculum". You will start with very minimal tools, and over the course of four days, have 10 blacksmithing tools. This is the ultimate blacksmith's toolbox class. Aside from the tools themselves, you will also gain the knowledge needed to boost your blacksmithing to a higher level in a very short amount of time... at least in my (and many others) opinion. Tools you will make! 1. Hammer/pickup tongs 2. slot punch 3. 3/8" rivet drift 4. eye drift 5. bottom fuller 5/8" 6. top fuller 5/8" 7. flatter 8. cupping tool 9. hammer eye punch lb rounding hammer Details and register 1. Seminar cost is $1500 CAD +GST 2. Material cost is included. 3. You must be 16yrs or older, and be of SOUND MIND AND BODY! You will have to absorb knowledge and swing a 10-12lb sledge! We will always be there for assistance in anyway! 4. Cost covers everything you will need at the course! 5. There is a hotel within short walking distance. 6. Coffee and snack provided in the morning! 7. Expect to be there, and work from 8am-5:30pm each day. 8. You keep ALL TOOLS you make. 9. Tools will be for sale after the course if you want a bigger hammer, or one of your tools doesn't turn out the way you want. 10. Please PHONE ME for questions and info! If you are interested in taking the class, please go to my website and click on "NAIT SEMINAR". It also has much more info about accommodations, bios, etc. Thanks, Ethan Page 19

20 Upcoming Events 2018 submitted by Ron Nelson These are events where one or more of our members will be attending. Members, if you want to include a future show then the info to Ron Nelson in plenty of time for him to have it posted on the WCKA web site. June 14th to 17th Raven Show and Sale July 20th to 22nd Campout at the Ranch Contact Larry Strandquist or lsknives@xplornet.com September 15th and 16th, 2018 Wetaskiwin Metal Art Show and Sale At the beautiful Reynolds-Alberta Museum in Wetaskiwin, AB Contact Jim Takenaka (780) jim.takenaka@gov.ab.ca October 13th and 14th, 2018 Salmon Arm Gun show Contact Richard Wale (cell) -richard.wale@hotmail.ca Doors open to the public at 9 AM More to follow in upcoming newsletters. Please let us know if you have one in your area that you would like to promote. Club Merchandise Available Thanks to some proactive members, we have some great things for sale that sport our WCKA logo. Rod Olson has produced beautiful high quality club pins at a very reasonable price of $60 each. We also have hats and t-shirts for sale. Finally, we have a wide selection of DVDs available for to club members. For a complete list of titles and procedures for the loan library, please go to our website If you would like more information, please contact Jim Clow j.clow@live.ca For Sale: The surface grinder is 220 volt/ three phase; including a static phase converter for use on 220 volt single phase power. It is manually operated and does need some tender loving care. The asking price is $ and I am open to reasonable offers. I can be reached at this address or by calling Morris Nesdole Page 20

21 Some final thoughts from the editor: Well, just when we thought winter would never end, summer arrived with a vengeance and news of slides and flooding are everywhere. We hope that all our members are high and dry and not in any danger of personal or property damage. It has been a very busy spring season. For Roger and I we went to 5 shows in 9 weeks. We almost think it is time to cut down on a show or two and just enjoy some free time. Guess time will tell. The Calgary Show was not as busy people wise this year. Not sure if that was a sign of the times or what. However, some members reported excellent sales, and for the rest of us, we loved the visiting and net working that always happens at events like this. The annual Kamloops Show was very busy. Having the Saturday night Remembrance for Frank Niro was very touching and it was wonderful to hear from family members about the diversity of Franks talents. It was also great to meet his family and spend some time with them. The AGM went well even without our secretary, Linda Nelson, and our treasure, Rod Olson. Some interesting ideas were put forward. Please take time to read through the minutes. An exciting time was when the winning ticket was drawn for this year's collaboration knife. Jay Kemble, ticket salesman of the year, sold the ticket to a neighbour in Milk River. Jay hand delivered it the following week and I hear there was one very happy person who will provide this beautiful art piece with a new home! On Sunday, Rita Wiebe brought up an interesting suggestion for next year. In order to promote and educate the artistry of Custom Knives, in relation to factory or other knives, she suggested having a breakout room at the show. This would be an area where a speaker/demonstrator would have an advertised and scheduled time slot to present to the general public and/or other knifemakers a facet of custom knifemaking. For example, why are custom knives so expensive, comparison of materials and steel that are used in custom knives, forged vs stock removal styles of making knives, how to do handle wraps, how to oxidize, etc. The topics could be endless. Rita feels that there is a lot of misconceptions out there regarding custom knives and feels that this would be an opportunity to share some knowledge with the general public and also provide some education for experienced knifemakers as well. We are in the initial planning for this and I will keep you informed as things develop. We enjoyed having some people visit our place after the Kamloops Show and once again feel so fortunate that we have the friends we do in the knife world. A new member, Ethan Harty, sent in a write up about a blacksmithing course in Edmonton in July. If anyone decides to go to it, I can see an interesting newsletter article coming from it. This summer, we have two organized WCKA events, one in June and one in July. Please read through the information in the newsletter and get back to the organizers if you plan to attend. We have been to many of these things and enjoy every one! Also, in the next newsletter, there will be more about the Wetaskiwin Metal Art Show and Sale. Please contact Jim Takenaka soon if you wish to attend. Well, that's it for now... Do you enjoy taking photos, writing stories, and being with people... Please consider taking over the editorship of the WCKA newsletter. Diane will be stepping down at the end of Please contact her at dianehatt@hotmail.com for info. Page 21

22 WCKA Membership Application For 2018 New member Renewal member Year 2018 Membership Fee Structure January 1 to December 31 Knifemaker/Associate Single...$20.00 Knifemaker/Associate & Family...$25.00 *Family members must all reside at the same residence to qualify for Family Membership. Associate members include: Collectors, Dealers, Mfr./Distributors (WCKA Membership includes Newsletters) Name(s): (Please include all names for family membership) Address: City: Prov./State Postal Code/Zip Code: Phone: Fax: address: Payment enclosed: $ Date: Membership list, complete with member information, will be sent to all members. Do you want your name to appear on this list? Yes No Return to: WCKA, Box 126, Tilley, AB T0J 3K bev.clow.bc@gmail.com

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