Flintknapping as Foreign Diplomacy, 'Noobie' Women Knappers and Young Blood! 

Cabelas' Lacey Store Knap-in 2013 Report

January 12th and 13th,  Coordinator - Mick Hill

Thanks to the efforts of event coordinator Mick Hill, webmaster Jim Keffer and the rest of the PSK members attending the 3rd Annual Cabelas' Lacey Store Knap-in this event was a TREMENDOUS SUCCESS!

For probably the first time ever 'noobie' young women knappers outnumbered the guys, young people far outnumber the older knappers and Flintknapping entered the real of Foreign Diplomacy!

In spite of the fact that is event occurred on the same weekend as the NFL playoffs, the number of people coming to Cabelas was incredible - as was the number of people interested in flintknapping!  PSK members were constantly busy - either teaching the large number of folks wanting to learn this ancient art or answering questions from the countless visitors! 

Those of us who've been around for a while remember 'Ping PongbDiplomacy' .  In 1971 the U.S. Table Tennis team was in Nagoya, Japan for the 31st World Table Tennis Championship when, on April 6, they received an invitation to visit China. From the early years of the People's Republic, sports had played an important role in diplomacy, often incorporating the slogan "Friendship First, Competition Second". On April 10, 1971, the team and accompanying journalists became the first American sports delegation to set foot in the Chinese capital since 1949.  This event opened the door to diplomatic relations with China.

On January 13th, 2013 a foreign exchange student from Egypt attended the Cabelas/PSK Knap-in event where she and her host family members recieved flintknapping lessons from PSK members!  It is our sincere hope that this experience will help reinforce our good relations with the good people of Egypt!

A special thanks to 'Gator Girl' and her family for attending this event!  Gator Girl's family is the host family for this foreign exchange student and it was Gator Girl's interest in flintknapping that was the catalyst for bring them all to the event.  We're proud to include Gator Girl as the newest member of the Puget Sound Knappers Association!

Early Morning - Day 1

Lots of interested visitors!

Mick Hill and another noobie!

Woody Woodside (right) instructs noobie Flethcer Taylor

Day Two

Rich Russell explaing the 'finer points'

Donn Paris with one of the youngsters! 

Donn with two of the young lady knappers - Ratio of women to men continued to be 2:1 throughout the weekend!

Mick Hill (left) explaining flintknapping concepts to new member Dean Hylton and his two sons while PSK webmaster Jim Keffer answers questions from interested spectators. Note the small plactic box in the lower right had corner of this photo.  At the beginning of this event the box contained approximately 100 points.  By noon the second day they were all gone - freebies to any youngster than showed an interest in flintknapping!

Mick Hill (left) and Jim Keffer (right) providing flintknapping instruction to Egyptian Foreign Exchange and Host Family.  Special thanks go to 'Gator Girl' (blue 'T' shirt with green moose) whose interest in Rock and Flintknapping was the reason they attended this event!  You can learn more about 'Gator Girl' from her Website - GatorGirlRocks.com

The Exchange Students - Now Members of the PSK!

(left to right) Hagar from Egypt, Mick Hill (PSK), Kajsa, Zoe and Jim Keffer (PSK)

Hagar with a percussion bi-face.  All of the young ladies did exceptionally well at percussion!

Kajsa - learning the basic of percussion knapping

Zoe also learning percussion.

Throughout the weekend there were a number of soldiers and airmen from Joint Base Lewis-McCord who stopped by - some to try their hand at knapping and some who were just interested in the ART! 

Mink - New PSK Member taking advantage of every opportunity to expand her knowledge of flintknapping and perfect her skills.  Mink is one of several young women to recently joing the PSK and is really dedicated to becoming an accomplished knapper!

PSK Members Attending