As you may recall, our workshop season came to a halt in the middle of March. With the patient goodwill of our supporters, we were able to start teaching again in July. Director of Education and Training, Brian Post, thought through how to revise our teaching infrastructure and curriculum to accommodate social distance. Instructors volunteered to build new teaching walls, created a space to teach steps and stairs, and reconfigured our flagging classroom. All of that work has allowed us to teach much of our Curriculum in Dry Stone from July through October.
In mid-October, we offered a long-weekend medley of classes that you can read about, including:
- Contractors Intro to Dry Stone Walling
- Intro to Stone Shaping
- Two days of our Women’s Intro
- Two days of Retaining Walls
- Two days of Fundamentals of Flagging
What an enjoyable four days! It was great to gather so many instructors and so many people returning for new learning and beginning to feel like friends.
We had expected to offer three more workshops in 2020, including a 1-Day Intro on November 7. We’ve decided to cancel it. Take a look at Vermont’s Cross-State Travel map to see why. So sorry to disappoint! We are committed, though, to taking care of ourselves and each other–and getting beyond the pandemic situation sooner, rather than later.
We are disappointed to announce that our December 5-Day Contractors Intensive has also been cancelled, as has the 1-Day Intro on December 12. We are grateful to Stoneyard for providing us with indoor learning space from March 2019 through March 2020. The events of this year have caused them to repurpose their space, so it is no longer available for teaching dry stone walling. The Stone Trust is in the process of figuring out how to provide appropriate learning space next year. Professionals take the class during the off-season, in the winter months. We need conditioned space. Please contact info@thestonetrust.org if you’ve got ideas.
And please sign up early for our 2021 workshops! Registration opens by the end of the day on Monday November 2!
Keep well!