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Posted by Anlon on April 22, 2008, 5:36 pm
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> The current president of the Guild of Metalsmiths, Rich Herman has made
> local (eastern Minnesota) Boy Scouts quite aware of blacksmithing.
> Last year (or the year before) he was one of a group that set up a
> blacksmithing station at the national Boy Scout gathering somewhere out
> east. He said that the lines of boys waiting to get a chance at
> blacksmithing were longer than the lines for anything else.
>
> I think every ABANA affiliate would do well to reach out the area Boy
> Scout organizations.
Yep, blacksmithing is very popular with Boy Scouts. Last year a living
history group I am a part of (SCA) set up a demo for the local district
spring camporee, setting up about a dozen stations. Myself and a couple of
other BAM members brought our forges for the blacksmit station. The troops
did each of the stations in a round-robin style.We had each troop for about
30 minutes, so not much time. We would pass around the tongs and hammers,
talk about what it was like to be a blacksmith in the middle-ages and such.
Then I would start talking to the boys about the techniques that blacksmiths
used as I demonstrated some of them. In the end each troop ended up with an
S-hook they watched me make from start to finish. The guys had about a
gazillion questions and didn't want to leave. There is something about the
ring of an anvil that draws boys, like a moth to a flame.
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