A Grand Time to Tinker

This year's event at Grand Portage National Park was especially satisfying. Good weather, good friends, and a setting that always inspires me made the days go by all too quickly. Perhaps the best part was that Jeremy was along with us after having spent most of the summer working down in Georgia. Our workshops and demonstrations are conducted in the post, the very site where tinsmiths were active during the fur trade era. Jim and I had 8 or 9 young people in our chamber candle holder workshop on Friday and an equal number of adults in our wall sconce class on Sunday. We offered an extra workshop just for other presenters on Thursday, and that was very well received. The park had set aside a coffee roaster for me to repair, and I found the time to complete a pierced tin panel for a 3-sided lantern for the door prizes at the on Saturday evening. It was an interpretation of the Northwest Company (NWC) logo. I was lucky enough to win a folding knife in the drawing!