Thank You For Your Support in 2012
Support comes in many forms for a non profit organization like
Spruce Forest Artisan Village. We would like to thank the following for
their financial support during 2012: Jane Benson, Pauline Faucett, Mary
Flister, Adam Haught, Ruth & Ray Horst, Reita J. Marks, Ruth Maxfield,
Don Miller, James & Penelope Patton, Robert Royer, Patricia Ward,
Donald P. Whalen, Esther E. Yoder, and Russell Yoder. While financial
support is essential we also want to recognize those that have contributed
to the village this year with their time, energy, and talents: Natalie
Atherton, Kathy Delaney, Mike Eldelman, Gene Gillespie, April
Hershberger, Ann Jones, Lynn Lais, Lenore Lancaster, Reita Marks,
Rachel Miller, Peggy Nixon, Beth Paige, Doug Salmon, Kara Rogers
Thomas, and Gary Yoder. We would also like to thank the guest artist
that visited the village this year: Reita Marks, Karel Schubert, Shelia
Brown, Birgitta Nostring, Joan Miller, Cindy Inman, Kitrina Ayers,
Lenore Lancaster, Linda and Richard Kunkle, Karen Sandorf, and Four
Seasons Stichery. Programs are also made possible with the continued
support from the Garrett County and Maryland State Arts Councils.
Kids programs expand with help from this
year’s Guest Artist.
Spruce Forest Artisan Village Newsletter
FALL & WINTER 2012
Spruce Forest Artisan Village at Penn Alps - 177 Casselman Road - Grantsville, MD 21536
28th Annual Christmas in the Village
Guest Artisans Karel Schubert and Mary Null provide
opportunities for children to learn about nature printing. Here
two young girls are enjoying doing nature prints with Mary.
177 Casselman Road
Grantsville, MD 21536
To make a tax deductible donation please fill out and mail in the following form to the village office.
I will help! Enclosed is my tax deductible donation $________________.
Please DO DO NOT send me a receipt acknowledging my donation.
Name : _________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Address: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Spruce Forest Artisan Village will
host its annual holiday event,
Christmas
in
the
Village, to
celebrate
the region’s
arts and
heritage
with lights
and music. On Friday
December
7 (4-8pm)
and Saturday December 8 (12-8pm)
join the resident artisans and guest
artists for holiday cheer, music in the
Village Church and artisan made gifts
sale. This year added hands-on
activities for children will make the
event even more special for the whole
family. Stroll under the towering
Norway spruce, among the historic
cabins decorated with greenery and
lights. Also, enjoy the over 400
handmade candle luminaries line the
paths of the Village. Visit the House of Yoder to warm
up with apple cider and popcorn, and
witness an Amish Christmas. Go back
in time inside the Compton one room
school where children may make pine
cone bird feeders and decorate
cookies. Try your hand at pottery in
the Riverview Clay Studio below the
Village Pottery. Stop in to each studio
g a l l e r y t o s e e a n d b u y fi n e
Appalachian crafts, including Lynn
Lais’s pottery, Ann Jones’ weaving,
Mike Edelman’s ironwork, Douglas
Salmon’s metals, Gene Gillespie’s
turned wood, and Gary Yoder’s bird
and feather
carving. Guest
artisans include
Shelley Booska
and Four Seasons
Sti tch er y w i th
hand made quilts,
Peggy Nixon with
slate paintings,
and Lenore
Lancaster with
colored pencil
drawings and prints. Saturday December 8, 2012. Proceeds
from both fundraisers will go to
expanding educational programs in
the Village, including classes and
workshops for adults and children.
Fo r d i r e c t i o n s o r e v e n t
information, please call the Village
o f fi c e 3 0 1 - 8 9 5 - 3 3 3 2 o r v i s i t
www.spruceforest.org. Spruce Forest
Artisan Village is a non-profit arts and
heritage center located on the Historic
National Road in Grantsville, MD. Programs are supported in part by the
Garrett County and Maryland State
Arts Councils.
Make yourself at home in the
Miller House, newly restored and firewarmed, hosted by Miller descendants
who will tell the story of this special
19th century Amish home. And drop
into the Village church where local
choral groups will sing songs of the
season. A detailed schedule of music
will be posted in newspapers before
the event, and will include home
schoolers, high school choral groups,
soloists and duos, showcasing the
amazing musical talent in this area.
Admission to Christmas in the
Village is free, but visitors may want to
participate in one of the village’s
annual fundraisers. The Final
Beiderlack blanket sale will take place
in the Hostetler House, (along with
sought-after warm drinks). This
weekend will also be the last
opportunity to purchase raffle tickets
for Gary Yoder’s goldfinch sculpture. The drawing will take place in the bird
sculpture studio on the evening of
Christmas in the Village photos and
cover page banner taken at last years’ event by
local landscape photographer Marcia
Warnick: 4wheelsphotography.zenfolio.com
Newsletter articles written by Natalie
Atherton and layout & design by April
Hershberger.
Phone: ______________________________________ Email: _____________________________________________________________
Office Phone:
301-895-3332
[email protected]
Mail your donation to: Spruce Forest Artisan Village - 177 Casselman Road - Grantsville, MD 21536
Find us on the web at...
www.SpruceForest.org
or LIKE us on Facebook
facebook.com/spruce.forest
Village Hours:
Monday- Saturday 10am -5pm
*Individual Artists Hours Vary*
There are food-safe oils used for salad bowls and cutting
boards and more permanent finishes for decorative items.
Wood Turning to Art
Artist Gene Gillespie has been involved at Spruce
Forest Artisan Village for over a decade. He participated in
craft shows at the Artisan Village and was a guest artist and
visiting artist for 4 years before joining the resident artist
program 2 years ago. Gene works and shows exclusively at
Spruce Forest now, but in the past has shown his work in
Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.
Gene’s fine crafts are a product of his turning
functional and decorative objects for 25 years. He uses local
woods –maple and cherry mostly, as well as exotic woods –
blood wood and zebra wood form South America and
wenge and bubinga from Africa, among others. Gene often
laminates the different types of wood to create rhythmic
patterns of color on items like cutting boards and salt and
pepper grinders.
Much of Gene’s woodwork is made on a lathe, turned
at high speeds, and polished with various finished
depending on the object’s use. Gene makes traditional
turned items like salad bowls, honey dippers, and vases.
Some of Gene’s bowls are over 16 inches in diameter.
Large pieces are rough turned and left to rest for 2 years
before Gene can do the final turning and refining of the
form. Then there is a many-step sanding process, and then
the piece is finished with six coats of hand-rubbed oil.
For Gene’s more decorative
pieces, he may combine turned
forms with other objects such as
sea urchin shells to create
hanging ornaments. Or he may
turn Banksia seed pods, which
are full of holes do to being
multi-seed pods, similar to pine
cones. Or he may use a dental
drill to pierce thin-turned vessels.
Gene’s repertoire is farreaching and Spruce Forest is
fortunate to have him as a
Photo by Karel Schubert
permanent resident artist. When
Gene’s lathe is not humming, he is using his wood working
skills to make repairs to the historic buildings. Gene and his
wife Dorothy sealed the roof on the Red Shed, a building
that has housed both resident and guest artists over the last
25 years. Gene also replaced the wheelchair ramp on the
Bear Hill Schoolhouse, the cabin he uses as his showroom.
He built the shelter for his lathe and is constantly finding
solutions to little problems that old buildings tend to have.
Visit Gene at the Bear Hill School Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday.
Blanket Sales Raise Vital Funds for Village
Spruce Forest Artisan Village has been selling Beiderlack Blankets as a fund raiser for
the general operating funds of the village. These funds go to taxes, utilities, repairs and
maintenance, as well as other overhead costs. The blankets make wonderful gifts and are
perfect for any recipient! They are made in the USA and measure 80” x 60”. There are
only a few blankets left and once we are sold out these blankets are no longer available as
made in the USA and will we no longer be doing this fund raiser. This is your last chance
to get these wonderful blankets at such an amazing price: only $25 per blanket!
The photo shows Dr. Karel Schubert (Guest Artisan) selling the 100th blanket to Mrs. Val Miller of
Morgantown, WV. She was there with her son and mother (not shown). Photo was taken by Karole
Queen, Val's mother. They purchased the 100th, 101st and 102nd blanket since the middle of July.
Last Chance to Purchase Raffle Tickets for 2012
Support Spruce Forest and take a chance on winning a sculpture of a
goldfinch by award-winning bird artist Gary Yoder. Gary has been carving
song birds since he was 11 years old and has won 5 world championships and
countless other awards. Raffle tickets for this year's fundraiser sculpture are
available through the Village artisans. The drawing will take place during
Christmas in the Village on Saturday night, December 8th. Visit Gary's
studio Monday-Wednesday and Friday-Saturday to purchase raffle tickets
and take a glimpse of the sculpture in progress. Tickets are 2 for $10 or 5 for $20
CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers are welcome and essential to the
programs at Spruce Forest Artisan Village. We
need help with administrative tasks,
groundskeeping, maintenance, repairs, and
special events. Special volunteer groups can
always be utilized for bigger projects perfect for a
school group or organization to give back to the
region and enjoy a day in the forest. If you would
like to get involved with the village you can visit
the website for more information or email for
more details.
Spruce Forest Artisan Village at Penn Alps - 177 Casselman Road - Grantsville, MD 21536
A sincere Thank You to
the generous Miller House
supporters who made this
restoration possible!
Glen Beachy
Idella Bender
Jane Benson
Phebe Bowser
Mark & Beulah Folk
John & Lois Hepler
Daniel & Arie Hochstetler
The Casselman Inn &
Restaurant
David & LouAnn Kanagy
Rhoda Keefer
Catherine E. King
Deborah Maust Martin
Barbara Miller
Descendants of Jonas & Barbara
Miller
Joanna Miller
Kevin D. Miller
Lewis & Eva Miller
Rachel N. Miller
Regis B. Miller
Olen & Jean Rembold
David & Isabelle Scheffel
Jonas & Ruth Scheffel
Ada Schrock
Ken & Marti Swanson
Steve & Phyllis Swartz
Casselman Ventures
Ruth Yoder Wenger
Descendants of Harvey S Yoder
Esther Yoder
Freda Yoder
Geoff & Lauretta Yoder
Keith & Esta Yoder
Ruth Miller Yoder
Photo by Dr. Karel Schubert
Photo by Dr. Karel Schubert
The Miller House, built in 1835, is currently undergoing restoration to the outside wall of the structure and the porch.
Miller House Update
Thanks to thousands of dollars raised
in a whirlwind capital campaign this year,
the Miller House is getting a long overdue
face-lift. To be more precise: using red
cedar logs nearly a foot thick, the west wall
was completely replaced, along with the
porch, which runs the length of the
building. History-buff, builder, and Innkeeper Roger Clarke has been heading up
a small crew that is lovingly restoring the
structure.
They have removed and
replaced every log in the west wall, and rechinked. This was not an easy task as
there were actually two walls. Previously,
due to weather damage sustained in the
home’s original location, a second layer of
logs had been added outside the original
layer. “Water got in between and behind
the fireplace. It was so rotten; You could
take your hand behind the wood and it
was like sawdust,” says Clarke.
Clarke has traveled to Europe to see
structures built before the Americas were
settled by Europeans. “There the
downspouts are a piece of art,” says
Clarke.
He familiarized himself with
traditional building techniques and has
helped restore a number of German-style
and log cabins in the area, including the
Glotfelty House at Spruce Forest and his
inn House of Miracles in Berlin, PA.
Roger Clarke works in a way that
matches the Artisan Village mission: he
passes his trade on to those willing to
watch and learn. As with the original
builders of the Miller House, Benedict and
his son Joel, it is Roger’s son who is
fortunate to be at his side. “He is picking
all this up by being around it. He’s handy
with his hands and creative,” says Roger.
Like father like son. Many thanks to both,
and to those who have contributed to the
much-needed repairs. Miller house will
re-open for Christmas in the Village,
December 7 and 8, 2012.
To learn more about the Miller
House restoration project or to contribute,
please contact: Rachel N. Miller at
[email protected]
Photos of the Miller house restoration were
taken by juried award winning guest artist Dr.
Karel Schubert of Morgantown. He has been
demonstrating landscape and nature photography
and nature printing, as well as exhibiting a
selection of some of his award-winning photos
and other regional and international photographs
at the Village this summer. He also works in other
media including watercolors and stained glass and
teaches workshops in photography.
Groups and Events at the Village
Photo by Dr. Karel Schubert
Do you have an upcoming special event you would like to host at the village? The village
church is available for rentals and the grounds are perfect for gatherings of family and friends.
Group tours are also available for school groups or buses and can be customized to your
interest. Please contact the village office for rates and custom quotes for your special event or
group. Office Phone: 301-895-3332
[email protected] - 301.895.3332 - www.spruceforest.org