Flintknapping: Beautiful, deadly

Phil Houseal
9/30/2009

Woody Blackwell flakes gossamer-edged, wafer-thin spear points and arrowheads from flint. Beautiful enough to hang on the wall as art; deadly enough to stop a black bear.

"I've brought down wild hogs, and other guys around the country have taken I don't know how many bear, elk, whitetail, and mountain lions," said Blackwell, who will be in Kerrville October 3 and 4 to teach Club Ed courses in Beginning and Intermediate Flintknapping.

"I sent some to a guy in Australia who is going to test them on Asian water buffalo," Blackwell said. "Before he goes hunting, he takes a fresh-killed buffalo and sees how the point penetrates their wide, thick ribs."

Blackwell is a nationally recognized leader in the craft - and art - of fashioning points from flint, obsidian, and glass. His work has been featured in the New Yorker magazine for its beauty and color. That may be the main difference between flintknapping today and flintknapping 100,000 years ago.

"We are currently making things for art," he said. "We have the luxury of just making points thinner, prettier, and less durable than the old guys did. They needed tools to go out and make meat or slice and dice a bear or buffalo. We make pretty stuff to put in a frame."

Blackwell noted that it is rare for modern knappers to reach the level of the ancients in quality, but a few have reached and even surpassed their skill. The fact that people still try might be wired into our genes.

"It's something our species has been doing for 2.5 million years. For a lot of guys - me included - when we find our first arrowhead lying in the dirt, it's like a switch that gets flipped. After that, it's a passion. We have to find more, then we have to figure out how they are made."

That's what Blackwell will be teaching in the weekend classes. Beginners will learn what kind of material works best, how to get flakes removed, and how to do it safely ("if you flintknap, you are going to bleed").

More experienced students will get a good grounding in advanced techniques.

Another top national knapper, John Kiernan, will also teach. Blackwell specializes in knapping very thin points, while Kiernan is known for making delicate, intricately edged points that are considered art.

At the end of the day, everyone will go home with a finished point. Blackwell cautions that yours probably won't bring down a buffalo.

"It may not look pretty, but you will know the basics of knapping."

xxx

The Flintknapping workshops will be held Saturday and Sunday, October 3 and 4. For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx.

Welding the world

Phil Houseal
Sept 23, 2009

You've moved to the Hill Country. You've bought your 5 to 10 acres, built your dream home, planted your pecan tree, and ordered a dozen laying hens. What is the next thing that newcomers want to do?

According to Rick Boles, it is to learn how to weld.

"In a retirement area like this there are so many people buying small acreages that they want to fix up," the former ag teacher said. "Many don't have funds to hire help to build fence, so they want to learn how to weld in order to do that themselves."

Boles has taught adult welding courses for Club Ed since 1990. He recently retired from Ingram ISD, where he taught agriculture for 21 years. He now works at Back 40 three days a week, and teaches a Basic Welding course each fall and spring.

It is hard work learning to weld properly, and takes a commitment and effort that barely fits into the 36-hour course.

"The industry training standard for welding is five months. In high school the course lasts the entire school year. We have distilled this down to six Saturdays."

Within that time, students learn oxy-acetylene cutting and basic arc - or stick - welding. Boles spends a lot of time up front on safety and familiarizing students with the equipment. Then, it's practice, practice, practice.

"The myth is that you pick it up quickly," Boles said of welding technique. "It's a skill, and like any skill, it requires practice. Even with all the computerized technology, where there are machines that can almost feel how the person works, it still requires practice. After the first 6 hours, it's 30 hours of hands-on. "

In recent years, Boles is seeing more women signing up for the class. He considers them to be very well suited for welding.

"Women seem to have a much steadier hand than men," he observed. "Being hands-on type people, they often far surpass the skills that men have."

Despite the hot working conditions and hard work involved, welding remains consistently the most popular course year in and year out at Club Ed. Every class is filled, and we could fill three times the number of classes if we had the instructors and space available. Teachers like Rick Boles are a big reason for this appeal.

"When they leave my class, they are ready to go home and weld," he said. "The students all have the confidence to tackle the projects they want to tackle."

XXX


For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx.

Club Ed offers new online defensive driving course

Hill Country drivers seeking ticket dismissal or insurance discount can now attend a new online driving course offered exclusively through Club Ed.

Gently's Driving is a new program being offered in Texas for the first time, according to Jerry Caywood, who helped develop the program.

Gently's Driving is approved and regulated by the Texas Education Agency for Ticket Dismissal in the state of Texas, in all Texas Courts. Many insurance companies offer a discount on automobile insurance for successfully completing an approved Defensive Driving Course. According to Caywood, the typical discount is 10% on liability coverage for a 3-year period (it is always recommended to check with local court or insurance agent prior to taking the course).

Anyone can sign up for the online course though Club Ed. Go to the web site www.clubed.net, click on Courses, then follow the link to the driving school.

The cost for ticket dismissal is $25; the cost for insurance discount is $20. A certificate is provided upon successful completion.

Club Ed is the community education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each session they offer more than 160 local classes, and hundreds more online. More information is available by calling Club Ed at 830-257-2218.

XXX

What you can learn in the middle of the night

by Phil Houseal

Community Journal (Kerrville TX) Sept 16, 2009

"Sally" needed some help. After three decades raising kids and working in a family business, the Kerrville resident found herself on her own, with a child still to raise and needing new skills to get back in the workforce.

So she came to Club Ed.

"Having to reenter the job market, I figured computer skills would definitely help," she said. She needed training, but needed it on her schedule.

The answer was Club Ed's online courses.

Club Ed offers more than 400 online classes. New classes start each month. There is an emphasis on computer skill training, as well as business, personal improvement, and test preparation. Sally is now enrolled in her second online computer course, and she loves it.

"I thought it was very easy to follow the lesson," Sally said. "My instructor used a lot of pictures so I could see what the screen looked like. That made it easier for me to follow."

She could interact with the teacher through a Question & Answer box.

"The teacher is good at getting back to you," she said. "We felt we had access to someone to answer questions. This made it very easy to follow for someone who had not had much computer experience. I was very pleased."

Each week, students download two lessons. This continues for 6 weeks, for a total of 12 lessons. The study course includes regular quizzes, instructor feedback, and a certificate of completion. Six weeks not enough time? Students can extend their course for weeks longer.

Sally admits the thought of taking an online course unassisted was intimidating at first.

"Anytime you enter a different field, there is a different language to learn. You have to have time to learn the language in order to follow instructions. I felt they handled it very well."

Online training may not be for everyone, but it suits Sally's personality.

"I'm a finisher," she said, noting how she once shortened an out-of-town trip just so she could get home and turn in an exam. She is also highly motivated - she did each lesson three times to make sure she understood everything.

Sally is already planning her next online course, and may add the Alamo College classes offered in Kerrville. Whatever path she chooses, it needs to fit her current life demands.

"I still need to be available to my child. But this is perfect for that. You can take it at your convenience - I have ended up working online at 11 o'clock at night. Where else can you get access to a teacher in the middle of the night?"

"This has been very good for me."

XXX

To learn more about Club Ed's online courses, visit www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com.