BALCONES FORGE
Blacksmiths of Central Texas
September 2003

Larry Crawford-President
GeraldPollard-Treasurer
Jerry Achterberg-Vice President
Vince Herod-Editor
Harvey Wise-Secretary

From The Prez
Well gang, we made it through another Texas summer and September is hinting at Fall; forging hot metal should be a bit more enjoyable with a lot less perspiration.

Wayne Kirkpatrick, way out west in Kingsland, hosted a very organized and interesting meeting last month. Wayne came up with a format to let our membership have a more active role in our meetings and it worked great. We had a roster of demonstrators that included John Crouchet, Mary Jo Emrick, John Graham, Larry Stevens and host Wayne Kirkpatrick.
Each shared nuggets of wisdom and experiences on a variety of topics. I quite enjoyed the program and hope to see more of this format at Balcones Forge meetings.

And if you folks from the eastern side of Central Texas enjoyed that last trip to far-west Kingsland, well have I got good news for you. The September meeting on the 27th will be in Llano at the forge of Mr. Bob Pheil. Bob is doing a solo act this time and word is out that he will recycle old horseshoes into hinges. I challenge all farriers to attend and bring all your old horseshoes.

Hope to see you all in Llano. Enjoy the approaching cool weather and by all means work smart and safe.

Larry Crawford
Balcones Forge President


Meeting Info
Get up a little early on Saturday the 27th and enjoy the scenic drive to Llano, Texas. Start time is 9am so don't party too late on Friday night.

Bob Pheil of Pheil Forge will be our host and demonstrator. Bob has hosted several fine meetings as well as two of our workshops. His shop is well laid-out and well equipped (although you should bring your own chair).

Llano is famous for some of it's eateries so do not worry about lunch, just bring some cash and indulge.

[the following paragraph added by Scott Little to convey the info in Vince's nice hand-drawn map in the snail mail newsletter]
Bob's shop is at 200 Post Oak Drive in Llano (phone: 915-247-1370).  Go to the courthouse in downtown Llano. Go west on the street that forms the northern side of the square around the courthouse.  1.7 miles west of the courthouse, turn left on Post Oak drive.   Find the ninth house on the left as you come down Post Oak....and you're there.

Trade Item
This month's trade item was selected by Larry Crawford to tie in with Bob's demonstration. And the winner is: hinges.

It has been suggested on several occasions that participation would be higher if the membership knew the trade item earlier. The editorial staff could not agree more. Traditionally the host picks the trade item and since we tend to not know the meeting schedule in advance it makes for a late announcement of the trade item. Lets change the system and make the announcement for the October item at the September meeting.

All those in favor?