Conclave 2017 BSA Order of the Arrow event - Eugene, OR

Conclave is a weekend long event (for the Boy Scout's Order of the Arrow), filled with a wide range of activities, great food, training and shows, with the goal of uniting the scouts.   for details visit; www.sectionw1s.org/conclave/

It was held at Lane Community College in September 2017 in Eugene, Oregon and included 3 groups / lodges.  Participants numbered between 450 - 500 people ranging from Washington to Medford, OR.  

Mountain Man Haversack project!
Our team was invited to teach leatherwork - we taught 2 classes on Saturday morning with a dozen students in each.  Each student created a leather "Mountain Man Haversack" bag from elk, deer, or pronghorn antelope pelts.  With leather working tools the scouts assembled a front and back piece and long strap - many finished off their creation with a leather name tag and leather lace / deer antler button.  

After lunch our team gave a presentation which included games and word searches/crossword puzzles related to the perusal of pelts & skins of over 100 different species of animals, birds and creatures from the sea.  The roughly 40 -50 scouts were able to handle, feel and inspect all of these various examples of these amazing creatures. 

Here are select comments received throughout the classes and presentation; 

"Great / Very cool / Fantastic collection / Really cool project / Amazing collection / Wow, that's really shark/stingray/lizard/muskox/reindeer/moose/kangaroo/elephant ??!?? / Yeah, this is fun!/ I've never seen this before / This making leather tags was a good afternoon activity / I wanted to make a haversack bag, but didn't know it would be this big - the other guys are gonna be jealous / Yeah, this is a lot of pelts / Hey, thank you for doing this -setting up this class for us / Love my bag / This isn't easy / Yes, I'm happy with my bag / Really cool class - thank you / Definitely would do it again /  Hard but worth it / The collection is so huge and varied / I learned several new things today / Making this bag - this project - it made my whole weekend! / I did it - it was hard but now I feel a sense of accomplishment "

Kudos to the team of teachers / helpers who contributed; 

Chuck + Max + Ellie + Grandpa + Bob + Deanna + Jeff + Caleb + Ben + Bill 

Check out the fantastic haversack bags!!!  Great work by all!

 Deer haversack with leather name tag & deer strap

Elk & pronghorn antelope haversack with elk strap & leather nametag

 Pronghorn antelope haversack with deer strap

Deer haversack (note the flap has the deer's mouth) with deer strap

Elk haversack with elk strap, deer antler button & elk strap

Deer haversack with deer strap.  Note the flap includes the deer's face!

Elk haversack with elk strap

Deer haversack with leather tag (note the deer ear on the flap)

Elk haversack with deer strap (note the elk's eye on the flap)

Pronghorn & Elk haversack with deer strap

 

Deer & elk haversack with elk strap

Prep work to make the kits to assemble;

NAACS 2017

Another great NAACS (North American Arts & Ceremonies Seminar) was had in January in Astoria, OR!  We hosted a leatherwork class in the morning & 2 workshops in the afternoon.  About 50 people participated with another dozen or so who came by during the day for the pelts on display.

Here is a word cloud from the feedback received;

This year we had pelts & skins from over 105 different species of creatures on display.  Also included were about 45 different items made from leather / fur.  The WSF also provided bighorn sheep horns for people to view and heft.  The scouts & leaders picked up, handled & compared these various animals, snake skins & creatures from the ocean (such as stingray & shark).  Several matching games were employed to encourage interactive participation (choose a toy animal & go find the pelt that matches it).  Authentic Native American Indians artifacts from the Dakota's were also on display.

Thanks to a number of glove manufacturers, we played another game where people chose a pair of gloves from a bag & then had to hunt down the matching pelt.

Prizes from Cabela's were also given to boys with a good attitude & with a completed crossword / word find puzzle.

In the afternoon we made leather pouches, adorned with a stamped name tag & fur / snake skin.  Here are pictures from most of the leather pouches made during the workshops;

Llama leather with beaver decor, snap closure

 Cow leather with rabbit decor & snap closure

Llama leather with beaver decor covering the entire flap, snap closure

 Cow leather with rabbit decor & snap closure (both pouches)

Cow leather with diamondback rattlesnake skin, drawstring closure

 Cow leather with pronghorn antelope decor, snap closure

Cow leather with stamped wolf tag, snap closure

 Cow leather with mink decor, snap closure

 Cow leather with dyed python snake skin, snap closure

Cow leather with snap closure + wooden mallet from apple wood & irish yew wood

 Cow leather with beaver decor & snap closure

 Cow leather with mink decor & snap closure

 Cow leather with mule deer decor & snap closure

Cow leather with rabbit decor & snap closure (note the tight lacing)

 Cow leather with rabbit decor & snap closure

 Cow leather with rabbit decor & snap closure

 Llama leather with diamondback rattlesnake skin decor & snap closure

Cow leather, diamondback rattlesnake skin decor, with snap closure

 Cow leather with diamondback rattlesnake skin decor, drawstring closure

Llama leather with pronghorn antelope decor fully covering the pouch, with hidden snap closure 

 Llama leather with diamondback rattlesnake skin decor & drawstring closure