On a lovely, sunny Saturday, the Stone Trust Center hosted a 1-Day Introduction to Dry Stone Walling workshop and Level 1 and 2 Test Prep workshops. Though these groups are very different in background and skill level, everyone enjoyed their day in learning and practicing dry stone walling. Sharing the outdoor classroom creates great synergy!
Seven wallers with minimal dry stone walling experience joined the introduction workshop. One waller came from Michigan for the workshop, while a father and his two thirteen-year old sons came from Connecticut. This was a great example of how dry stone walling can be a fun family activity for kids as young as thirteen, the minimum age for participation in a Stone Trust workshop. This group worked as a great team, intermingling and moving around the wall throughout the day to help each other. They managed to rebuild the wall and also to take a tour around the Stone Park and barn to discuss the many examples of walls, structures, and possibilities for creating with dry stone.
Six wallers came to the test prep workshop to prepare for a future certification test. Three of these wallers will be testing for their Level 1 Certification on the Fall Test Day, September 22. This workshop provides a good opportunity for wallers to time themselves as they would on test day. Instructors provide guidance throughout the day on building efficiently. They provide feedback, so test candidates leave feeling like you know what you need to work on before test day.
Thank you to everyone for attending a Stone Trust workshop, whether you were learning new skills, or refining old ones.
Thank you to instructors Ben Sandri and Ron Neil for teaching the intro participants with patience and “attention to detail,” as one participant said. Thank you to Curtis Gray and Alex Hoffmeier for taking the time to work with test prep wallers and being flexible for each waller’s needs.
