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Lawrence Co. History Festival
In 2011, Stephen and the Bedford College
of Lace Making did not attend the Lawrence County History Festival, due to an episode of walking pnuemonia, two inner ear
infections and something that I don't know how to spell.
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| 2010 History Festival Lace Booth |
At the 2010 History Festival Stephen was joined by Rowena Cross-Najafi and Shannon Pickett at his lace making booth.
We had a wonderful time but this year we moved across the road to the almost same spot we had back in 2007, due to the
increase in size of the battlefield. Though we had a great time in the new location, we are hoping to be returned to
our favorite spot in the event... up front in and in the middle.
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| 2009 History Festival Lace Booth |
We had a wonderful time at the 2009 History Festival. This year the Friday school day was only from 9 am until
11 am, but we had almost 700 boys and girls come through the event and we did nothing but talk and teach lace making all morning.
We were pooped out by noon. On Saturday, the first day the event was open to the public, was a much more relaxed pace,
though more people came up to the booth. This year Rowena taught the majority of public the art of bobbin lace making
on the "interactive" model and Dorothy worked on a thin edging in bobbin lace.
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| 2008 History Festival Lace Booth |
At the 2008 History Festival, Rowena Cross-Najafi joined Stephen at the lace making booth and the two had the best
time, especially on "School Days" in which local 5th graders were allowed to come out and see the different events
in history. The remainder of the event Stephen also had Dorothy Timan helping out at the booth. Dorothy taught
many people on the "interactive" model how to make the simplest pattern in bobbin lace.
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| 2007 History Festival Lace Booth |
At the 2007 Lawrence County History Festival, Stephen Bowman
set up a booth demonstrating Bobbin Lace, Tatting and other forms of lace making. There he was joined by his aunt
Sue and periodically a friend and neighbor named J. R. Johnson. Everyone involved had a great time of it.
Lafayette Lace Day / Fair
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| 2011 Lafayette Lace Fair |
InMarch of 2011, Stephen attended the bi-annual event, Lafayette
Lace Days held in Lafayette, Indiana. It was a wonderful event and we all enjoyed
the annual meeting, shopping with the vendors and playing lace making games.
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Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival
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| 2011 Hoosier Hills Fiber Arts Festival |
As luck would have it, the Bedford College
of Lace Making was able to attend the 2011 Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival. Stephen's friends Diana and Herman Young invited
him to demonstrate lace making in their booth. Luckily the 2012 booth rent has been paid and we will not have to scramble
again next year.
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| 2010 Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival |
At the 6th Annual Hoosier Hills Fiber
Festival held on June 4th & 5th, 2010, Stephen once again displayed lace making as well as some gourds that he has created.
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| 2009 Hoosier Hills Lace Making demo |
On the first weekend in June 2009, the Bedford College of Lace Making was invited to demonstrate bobbin lace and other
lace making techniques at the 5th Annual Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival held in Franklin, IN. Stephen went for the two
day event and had a wonderful time discussing bobbin lace, tatting and discussing how to make bobbins with his new friend
Diane. Stephen also taught several people how to make bobbin lace and was invited to attend a couple of more events.
Leavenworth River Festival
In the summer of 2008, we were invited to come to the celebration
at Leavenworth, IN known as the River Festival. The event hosted a large number of artisans and craftsmen of all types
of disciplines, among them being a paper making booth, a blacksmith, an angora rabbit fur spinning and of course lace
making. This event led to some great exposure in the Louisville, KY newspaper, which in turn led to a spot on Fox41
news.
Click here to see the interview with Barry Bernsen.
At the Southern Indiana Fiber Arts Festival in Corydon, Indiana
on Saturday, 18 October 2008, Stephen Bowman demonstrated how to make bobbin lace while Thelma Cross showed
how to make crochet lace. Dozens of fairgoers learned the basics of torchon lace and added a
few stitches to the interactive model set up on a demonstration bolster at the Bedford College of Lace
Making booth. Congratulations to the organizers of the festival for a great event.
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| 2010 Civil War Days |
On the 14th of August 2010, Stephen went
to Beck's Mill again and set up his (condensed) lace making booth on the second floor of the mill for their second annual
Civil War Days. Joining Stephen at Beck's Mill this year were Norm and Annette Taylor, Doug & Lori Roberts and Jim
& Diana Gossert, all of whom had a wonderful time, if not wet due to the humidity of the day.
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| Lace making at Beck's Mill |
In September 2009, Stephen finally got
the chance to visit Beck's Mill, located in rural Washington County near Salem, IN. Beck's Mill is a recently refurbished
historical landmark and one of the oldest and few remaining mills in Indiana. At one time Beck's Mill not only would
grind corn and wheat, but also had a saw mill and was able to operate not one but two carding machines to process wool.
These two carding machines are but a few that remain in existance today. Stephen had a great time there demonstrating
lace making to the visitors and making new friends once again.
Napoleon Living History Days
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| 2010 Napoleon Living History Days |
The 4th Annual Napoleon Living History Days in Napoleon, IN has
been alter from a Civil War only event to a time line event with the addition of Musket Loaders and World War II soldiers.
Stephen attended the event again on 28 August 2010 and displayed his lace making demonstration
and happened to meet up with some World War II pals from the Lawrence Co. History Fest.
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| 2009 Living History Days at Napoleon |
The 3rd Annual Napoleon Living History Days in Napoleon, IN is
a relatively new Civil War era event took place on 29th of August, 2009. Stephen attended the event and displayed the
lace demonstration. While there Stephen made some new friends and was asked to teach a bobbin lace workshop.
Orleans Farmers Market
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| Stephen at the Orleans Farmer's Market |
On 11th of June 2011, Stephen was
invited to attend the Orleans Farmers Market. The event was a wonderful day despite the hot weather of the
previous week with a cool breeze and many interested spectators watching lace being made. Rain clouds were on
the horizon, but not one drop until we were ending the day.
Girl Scout Demonstration
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| Girl Scout Lace Demonstration |
Early in the spring of 2011, Nina Peterson, invited Stephen
to come and give a lace making presentation to her Girl Scout troop. Stephen took his interactive pillow model
and it was a big hit with many of the girls in the troup. A Simple Day in the Country
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| 2009 Simple Day in the Country |
On July 18th, Stephen went to a small
Renaissance Fair called "A Simple Day in the Country" near Camp Atterbury, west of Edinburgh, Indiana.
The lace making booth was directly across from the staging area for the combatants, and so Stephen had a great view of the
men clubbing each other to death. Also, many people came and sat down and learned the art of making lace. The
event was a great success!
Lanier Days Civil War Event
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| Stephen teaching at the Lanier Mansion |
On the second weekend in June 2009, the Bedford College of Lace Making was invited to demonstrate bobbin lace and other
lace making techniques at the Lanier Days Civil War Weekend in Madison, IN. Stephen went for the event and had a great
time discussing bobbin lace, tatting and the history of lace making. Also much to Stephen's amazement, not one but two
people asked about the ancient art of filet netting, hopefully this will be the beginning of another generation of netting
makers.
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| photograph by David Black |
In 2008 Marengo Cave celebrated it's 125th anniversary known as "Discovery Days". Every five years
they put on this event and this year Stephen was invited to participate in it and demonstrate lace making techniques.
It was also at this event that a little girl came up to the booth and announced that she had seen some fat guy on TV doing
bobbin lace with a bunch of kids. That would of course had been the Barry Bernson interview.
Feast of the Hunter's Moon
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| 2008 Lafayette Lacer's lace making demo |
At the end of September 2008, the annual
event called the "Feast of the Hunter's Moon" took place once again in the greater Lafayette, Indiana area.
Stephen joined the local lacemaking group called "Lafayette Lacers," at their encampment. While taking his
turn working the booth, he taught several people, kids and adults alike, the basic techniques of bobbin lace.
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Spring Mill Pioneer Village
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| Photograph by David Black |
In the spring of 2009, Stephen Bowman,
while representing the Bedford College of Lace Making, began volunteering his time in the Pioneer Village of Spring Mill State
Park. At the beginning of the season on the first weekend in April, Stephen has been demostrating bobbin
lace in the winter kitchen of the Lower Hamer House on every weekend that he has free. Stephen attended the Memorial Day Weekend, along with many other volunteers
entertained for the tourists until the dedication ceremony in the down pouring rain.
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| 4th of July Weekend |
About a month later, on the weekend of the 4th of July, Stephen again
set up his lace making demonstration in the Lower Hamer House. There he met a new friend named Shannon,
who was attempting to spin on the Great Wheel. However, it was far too humid in the village that weekend and the spinning
wheel's wood swelled making it difficult to turn.
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| 2009 Pioneer Heritage Days (Stephen & Shannon) |
On the first weekend in August 2009, Stephen attended the Pioneer
Heritage Days held annually in the village. On this weekend, Stephen was reunited with Shannon, who worked on bobbin
lace and his new friend, Sue Miessner, who spun flax into linen thread in the winter kitchen of the lower residence.
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| Stephen teaching on 8 May 2010 |
With the new year of 2010, comes a new
year of volunteering at Spring Mill State Park. On 8 May 2010 Stephen finally made it back to the park for a relaxing
day of lace making in the Winter Kitchen of the lower Hamer House. Soon Stephen will be moving to another building to
demonstrate lace making in. We don't know which one as yet, but it will either be the Granny White house or the Tavern.
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| 2010 Heritage Days Event |
On the first weekend of August 2010,
Spring Mill held it's annual Heritage Days event in which the village is filled with crafters of various kinds. Stephen,
along with Shannon, was set up in the Tavern making lace as usual.
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| 2011 Heritage Days Event |
At the 2011 Heritage Days held annually in
Spring Mill State Park, Stephen set up once again to demonstrate bobbin lace. This time he ws joined by Darin and Janie
King as well as his student Kenna Hodges. This year Stephen brought his two new pillows, a large Ring Pillow with a
Bedfordshire lace edging started on it and his newest one of all, the Russian Pillow with a french lace edging on it.
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| 2010 Pioneer Women's Retreat Lucet Class |
At the 4th annual Pioneer Women's
Workshop, Stephen taught the Lucet to the participants. Each lady recieved a small lucet fork, a small ball of
thread and an hour with me learning how to it.
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| 2009 Pioneer Women's Retreat's lace class |
At the 3rd annual Pioneer Women's
Workshop, Stephen was asked to teach a class in bobbin lace to the twenty participants. Each lady recieved a small travel
bolster type pillow, a dozen bobbins and two hours with me learning how to make a lace bookmark. I think the ladies
enjoyed the class, well at least thats what they told us. Tri-Kappa's Candlelight Tour The
third weekend of September is the Candlelight Tour sponsored by Tri-Kappa and is the kick off event for the week long
Persimmon Festival held in Mitchell, IN annually. Stephen has been attending the Candlelight Tour annually demonstrating
lace making to the visitors.
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| 2011 Candle Light Tour |
In 2011, Stephen again attended the Candle
Light Tour, and once again set up his lacemaking booth in the parlor of the Lower Residence. This year he was joined
by two of this current students, Kenna and Julanna. Everyone had a great time making lace by oil lamp (and by the led
lights in Stephen's lap).
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| photo by David Black |
In 2010, Stephen once again attended
the Candle Light Tour, however, this year he didn't set up his lacemaking booth, but instead chose to walk the grounds
and see the other people who were set up adn demonstrating their handywork. Later on in the evening, Stephen and Shannon
(now known as Nestor and Mahuldah) went into all the different buildings lighting the candles in all the windows.
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| 2009 Candle Light Tour (Lower Hamer House) |
At the 2009 Candle Light Tour, Stephen
was once again in the dining room of Thomas Hamer's house. In the dining room, Stephen demonstrated bobbin lace and
displayed a large variety of other lace making techniques. Like he was gonna do anything else.
In 2008, Stephen attended the Candle
Light Tour with his former students, Maggie, Tessa and Dorothy as well as our good friend, Angie Timan. This year
we were moved from the sitting room to the much larger dining room of the Thomas Hamer house. Though the event
was visted by over 1,400 people, it did rain as the sun was setting, which trapped many spectators in the building and
forced them to learn more about lace making than they ever wanted to.
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| 2007 Candlelight Tour (lower Hamer House) |
In 2007, his first year there, Stephen
was placed in the Music Room of the Lower Hamer House, where he caused a line to form trying to get into the building.
Being too interesting is a problem in tight places it seems.
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Running Naked with Scissors and Plotting World Domination
on a Shoestring Budget
 
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