Under the big knapping tent there were several circles of knappers turning out points, laughing, and instructing the curious on-lookers of the general public. Jim Overcash of Texas knapped a nice Clovis preform and while he was eating lunch with Ken Wallace, he asked him if he could flute it with his jig. Well Ken didn't have his jig, but since Ken lives a stones throw from the knap-in, he brought his jig Saturday morning to give some of us an impromptu jig fluting demo (thanks Ken). Ken did a little preparation and gave it a pop on both sides. The flutes ran from base to tip on both sides with the second flute taking just a bit of the tip. After Ken finished touching up the tip he and Jim decided to both sign it and put it in the auction. Chris Pappas ended up with the point along with the flutes that came off it and believe me he didn't get that point cheap as the bidding was fierce.
Speaking of the auction, it was well represented with nice products from the knappers and great products from our vendor friends. Bob Berg even auctioned off a carved wooden face from one of the vendors that looked so much like him that he jumped back a bit when he first looked at it. Bidding was competitive, especially for Ken Wallaces's wind chime made with Novaculite flakes and for an eagle carved out of a large antler. I personally went home with some great stuff which included an 11 inch "fluted" point made by Chris Pappas. It was actually a musical flute made out of cane with a Dalton type point hafted on its end. I just had to have that, and it even plays well too, just make sure you pay attention and don't put the business end in your mouth by mistake like someone I know almost did.
Friday night was of course Ooga Booga time and I'm told some 40-50 new inductees went through and all had a good time. I even saw one new 10 year old inductee with paint still on his face all day Saturday. Saturday night we were all treated to a presentation by Bill Pickard on the Wenatchee Clovis site. He did an excellent job as he showed and explained slides taken during the excavation. We all felt fortunate to be counted within the select few that have viewed the excavated materials and related artifacts even if it was only through slides.
Sunday saw knappers kicking back, socializing, shopping and doing a lot of trading. I personally saw several nice trades of knapped points between several knappers and also managed to work a trade out to come home with a nice Perkioman point knapped by Ken Wallace. I believe Ken's point pouch was empty from all of his trades. Sunday also brought the knap-in awards. Bob Berg won best of show for a booth that many knappers were talking about. The Howdy Award this year was presented to Jim Woodring (Titusville, PA) and I heard many knappers talk about him really deserving it. The inductee for the wall of fame was of course the one and only Larry "Lone Wolf" Scheiber Hisself (we all enjoy his cartoon in every Chips issue!).
The Woodland category went to Ken Wallace (Castile, NY), the Archaic category went to Chris Miller (Lexington, Ohio) for the 6th year in a row - way to go Chris! The N.Y. Lithics category was a tough competition, but Ken wallace once again came out on top with what I heard was a "killer" Susquehanna point. Man Made Materials went to Steve Nissly (Maytown, PA), while Michael Santiago (Gerard, PA) won the Paleo Fluted category. Lastly, the Lamoka category went to Michael McGrath (Binghamton, NY). A special thanks to the judges who were Laurie Pahdopony, Bill Pickard and John Cappellini. As the afternoon wound down, knappers began to settle into doing more knapping. After we all watched Ken Wallace spall out a massive Kentucky Hornstone nodule for Jim Woodring, knapper John Brennan utilized a flake from Ken's work to carve up a melon he had - the things you see at knap-ins.
All in all the weather was superb and we all hated to say goodbye for yet another year, but one by one knappers did just that as they shook hanads and packed up their knapping tools to head for home. There seems to be few things more enjoyable than knapping with old friends and making new ones. We all hope to see you next year.
