All posts by Cheryll

Candor Fall Festival/New England Atlatl Day This Weekend

There will be two atlatl events this weekend for those in the Northeast! Thunderbird Atlatl will be hosting the annual Candor Fall Festival Atlatl Contests and Demonstrations
at Side Hill Acres Goat Farm, Route 96, Candor, New York from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

There will be local contests and demonstrations, ISACs and IASAC contests both days. All are invited. For further information contact Bob or Cheryll Berg at 1-800-836-4520 or Thunderbirdatlatl@gmail.com

New England Atlatl Day will be held on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Hammonasset State Park in Madison, Connecticut.

There will be local competitions and ISACs. The event is co-sonsored by the Friends of Hammonasset and the CT State Museum of Natural History/CT Archaeology Center. Camping Available. For information contact Gary Nolf at gnolf@comcast.net

Maine Primitive Gathering

Bob Berg of Thunderbird Atlatl will be presenting a class on primitive fishing at the Maine Primitive Gathering this weekend, October 2, 3, 4 & 5.

The class will include fish line making, hook making from bone, thorn and bamboo, and simple fish traps. Bob will also cover making and using harpoons and harpoon throwers. The class will be offered on Sunday, Oct. 5.

Along with Bob’s presentation, there will be a variety of other interesting classes and presentations. Jeff Gottleib is organizing a Trade Blanket on Saturday – bring items to trade! Jeff says to bring stuff of interest to a primitive skills person such as tools, books, crafts, raw materials, foods, etc. The Trade Blanket will be on Saturday at 4pm. This is a really fun event.

Arthur Haines will be running ongoing primitive foraging and cooking demonstrations at the cooking fire pit all weekend. Arthur’s phenomenal knowledge of plants. Arthur’s tremendous knowledge of plants, makes any class with him a special treat.

Maine Primitive Gathering Organizer Mal Stephens is asking everyone who is a primitive skills practitioner to bring their handcrafted items to layout as a display during lunch on Saturday. Practitioners are asked to bring hides and blankets to put their stuff on. Mal can be reached at: mallorystephens(at)yahoo.com or 207-646-1856 or his cell: 207-604-2390.

Check out information about the event at: http://maineprimitivegathering.blogspot.com/

Weapon Masters Show, Upcoming Atlatl Events!

The Weapon Masters Show proved to be interesting and top atlatlists Bob Berg, Mark Bracken, Doug Leeth and Mike Waters definitely made tremendous dents in the armour! If given the chance to experiment with the project, we have no doubt a stone point would have pierced the armour. The stone points, as the show’s host, pointed out certainly made an impact on the armour!

There are a number of upcoming events the next two weekends in the atlatl world. If you are in the area, try to attend one of these events!

Sept. 26-28

Golden-Gem Rendezvous & Knap-In. Llano, Texas
ISAC on Saturday and Sunday at 1 PM
Contact: roywenmo2000@yahoo.com
more info: http://llanochamber.com/

Sept. 26-28

Fall Knap-In
Old Stone Fort State Archaeological Park, Manchester, Tennessee
ISAC
Contact Keith Wimberley at (931)723-5073 or Keith.Wimberley@state.tn.us

Oct. 3-5

Lake Atwood, Ohio
Ohio Atlatl Association
contact: ohioatlatl@hotmail.com

Oct. 4-5

Falling Blanket atlatl throw & ISAC. Cheyenne, Wyoming
Open to all, equipment and instruction cheerfully provided. Sponsored by the Wyoming Atlatl and Social Club.
Contact: Gary/Regina Dodson wyowinds@aol.com (307-632-0766)
or Russell Richard coyoteclown@aol.com (307-772-0550) for location and time.

Oct. 4-5

Richard’s Back Acres Throw.
Jeffersonville, Indiana.
ISAC and Indiana State Championship throws each day.
For information contact Richard B. Lyons (812) 246-9987 or atlatlin@gmail.com

Oct. 5

Duncan Park, Austin, Texas
ISAC Sunday 11 AM
Contact roywenmo2000@yahoo.com

Steel Armour versus the Atlatl Bob Berg, Mark Bracken, Doug Leeth & Mike Waters Featured

If you can tune in, don’t miss the Weapon Masters special on the atlatl Sunday at 9 p.m. on the Military Channel.

You can also view clips of it on this link:
http://military.discovery.com/video/weapon-masters.html

In the segment featuring Atlatlists Bob Berg of Thunderbird Atlatl, Mark Bracken, Doug Leeth and Mike Waters, the four top notch atlatlists try to see what a stone point on the end of an atlatl dart will do when it hits the armor worn by a Spanish Conquistador! Producer Alex Jouve traveled to Letchworth State Park in upstate New York in August 2007 to see if the Aztecs armed with atlatls really could have presented a challenge to the invading Spanish Conquistadors a few centuries ago. The World Atlatl Association held its annual meeting at Letchworth State Park last year and a few of the best atlatlists in the world just happened to be around for the challenge!

Watch to see what kind of a challenge is presented by the atlatl Bob Berg, Mark Bracken, Doug Leeth and Mike Waters give the visiting Conquistador a great challenge!

Atlatl Musings

Champion Atlatlist Doug Bassett remained a champion this past weekend at the Annual Chimney Point Vermont Atlatl Contest. Doug was presented the grand champion award after a shootout among champions at the end of the day.

The popular Vermont event was once again a success with all enjoying the friendly rivalry along the shores of Lake Champlain.

Champion atlatlists will be part of the Weapons Masters series on the Military Channel on September 21st. Atlatlists Bob Berg, Mark Bracken, Doug Leeth and Mike Waters will be shown trying to pierce the armor of a conquistador with stone pointed atlatl dart. The program was filmed in August 2007 in Letchworth State Park at the 2007 meeting of the World Atlatl Association.