Tenn Classic

[jignfrog]

I wanted to let everyone involved that the Tenn Classic was great. You all done a great job. And enjoyed meeting everyone down there. The food was great and everyone made me feel right at home. My family had a great time. Especially my girl who brought home a disc from the bird shoot she is happy to have gotten something and wants it hung in her room. I can't wait tilll next year to come down.

Oh and I will be expecting some of you to come up to MOJAM in July. : - )

Ron

[8up]

I agree it was my first event and I had a great time. Everyone made me feel like a friend from the word hello. The food was great. The entertainment was excellent. Thanks to all who gave of their time to make this a great event. A special thanks to Pappy for helping me start my first bow.

[Pat B]

From the minute Dick Bernier and I pulled down the drive past Pappy's cabin I knew this is gonna become one of my favorite shoots.  . Pappy, Greg and all the Twin Oaks folks did a spectacular job. The facilities are perfect, the 3D courses were setup well, the weather was ...well, weather! and the warm friendly Southern hospitality made me feel at home...it was like I've known all these folks for a long while...and I had only just met most of them.  And, my compliments to the chef(s). The evening meals were very good and just what we all needed after the days activities and to prepare the the evenings activities. The egg, ham and cheese casserole and a few cups of coffee got me going each morning. .
   I was thrilled to see all the bows being built and the hands-on help given. Greg, especially was constantly working with one beginning bowyer or another...from morning to well after dark. This event is a CLASS ACT!!! The thought came to me that this event could rival that "other" bow building event in the July heat of Missouri . I can just see it now...The Twin Oaks Tennessee Classic(TOJAM)!  
   It was wonderful to put faces and shake the hand of folks I've enjoyed here on PA and new folks I met this weekend. Marius traveled the farthest, coming from Germany, and returning there with a bundle of loot . But Justin was a solid second! He hauled 1000# of beautiful obsidian to the classic from S.W. Utah and 2000# of large hack berry, black walnut logs(and other odds and ends) and a couple of Missourians back west. Meeting Munroe, Marie(and Susannah) and the princess (Sarah) was my pleasure. You guys are the best!!!
  Wait till ya'll see some pics of all the great folks and beautiful self made bows. This is a fine example of PASSING IT ON!     Pat




ps. If anyone found a dig camera(HP 400 series) in a small, black zippered case with 2 lithium batteries stuck under the belt loop of the case, please contact me. 

[DanaM]

I'm so jealous

TOJAM

DanaM

[GregB]

Thanks Pat! Probably will take a couple of days to recover, but it was a good type of tired.

I really enjoyed meeting everyone that showed up from PA, that was the highlight of the event for me. I also enjoyed meeting Sarah, Monroe, Maries daughter Susannah, and getting to visit with Marie again. Thanks again for the corkscrew Marie!

I don't know about calling the event TOJAM though...the mental image of that just doesn't quite work for me!

[Hillbilly]

What Pat said........he expressed it perfectly and saved me a lot of typing We had a GREAT time (although in retrospect I probably should have slept sometime during the weekend), and met some of the finest folks that I've ever had the pleasure of encountering. I'll try to post some pics when I get home from work this afternoon-just made it home last night in time to wash off the mud, pick off the ticks, and fall into bed. Didn't take as many pics as I should have, so much interesting stuff going on that I forget to pull the camera out sometimes.

[Dingleberry]

  Yeah, the TN Classic was a hellova good time. Got to meet all kinds of people from around the country and world(Marius).  It was especially nice to meet the PA Forum folks for the first time. Got some great advice and instructions on bow building, arrows, flintknapping, beer drinking, beer drinking and flinktknapping , etc......

The courses were well layed out and great fun to shoot; although it seems like I/we were doin more searchin for arras then hitting the target The facilities were top-notch and everyone who wanted to make a bow was doin it, and like Pat said, with the help of all kinds of people.  The only complaint I have, is that during one of the nightly announcements, some "local" was speakin some ancient european language and I couldn't understand a lick of it .....at least he looked like a local with that huge beard and all.
Well, to sum up, it was a great event and look forward to goin next year. 
Thanks Pappy et al...

[Hillbilly]

Jonathan, you think we can talk you into coming to Hickory? 

[tom sawyer]

I'll add my thanks to the great folks who put on this shindig.  Looked like a lot of work.  The family and I had a great time and I enjoyed meeting you all.  Ate too much, drank too much, talked too much and came home with a nice piece of Alabama hedge as a memento.

The highlight of my weekend was hitting one of the aerial targets using a selfbow.  Granted it was on my last arrow but hey I am slow to warm up and the arrows were carbon.  Might've hit 8/10 with cane.  Yeah, thats the story.

My other memorable event was finding the scoop on that busload of Michiganders with the funky horn.  Anybody hear that horn?  Anybody NOT hear that horn (what are ye deef?!)?  I walked by and they didn't blow it, so I stepped up on the bus and asked if they only blowed it for women or something.  They said they'd honk if I took my shirt off, so I did and they did by golly.  Men of their word.  Manly men.  Then they gave me a beer, and some bacon-wrapped BBQ chicken the next day.  Fine bunch, though I hear there were mascot kidnappers amongst them.

We had good neighbors at the campgrounds too, Jonathon and his hot salsa and the fellow who does re-enactments at Martin's Crossing in VA (gotta check that out someday).

That is a little of my experiences.  Lennie

[Pat B]

Lennie, Your beer was excellent. I'm usually not a dark beer drinker but that slight taste of cherry gave it a wonderful flavor. I enjoyed meeting you and your wife.
I heard the horn from that bus also quite a bit was didn't take my shirt off for them...not even for a beer.
I think we all ate too much, drank too much and definitely talked to much but besides laughing too much and shooting what else was there.  Pat

[DCM]

It was good to see you nare-do-wells, some for the first time.  Like it always seems to happen, I met people I wasn't expecting to meet but missed some I'd hoped to. 

Hate I missed tasting Lennie's home brew.  You gonna brang a taste to the Jam, ain't ya ole buddy, ole pal? 

Got to handle the Southern community bow.  Ya'll did a great job.

Our trip was very enjoyable as usual, even though my priorities are conflicted between entertaining my loverly wife off site and feeding my bowyer/archer obsession by hangin and yackin at Pappy's place.

Pappy and his crew did a great job again.  Having been to the last five, at least, I can tell you this shoot has really grown.  I fear a little bit that one of my favorite Yogi-isms may come to pass ie. "nobody goes there anymore, it's just too crowded."  I think Pappy still has a couple of notches left in his belt, but I can only imagine just how much time and money it costs to host a deal like this.  To our hosts I'd like to extend a most sincere and heart felt thank you.

I hope to see ya'll, and perhaps some who didn't make it, again next year.

[tom sawyer]

I have no idea how you managed to corral such a lovely filly Mims.  There must be a real shortage of good-looking men in Memphis.  Or you're stinkin' rich and just don't flash it around like some.  I'll bring a little more beer to MOJAM, get there early or it'll evaporate from the heat.

Pat I forgot shooting, my family did the whole course even the 7-yr-old.  We did a family contest, shot for score and then subtracted our ages to even things up.  Even though I"m the elder, I still won.  The 7-yr-old came in second though, my lovely wife sort of brought up the rear.  Nobody tease her about that though, she just had a bad day.  She made some good fried cabbage though, anybody get a little of that?  Spicy and greasy, two of the four food groups here in MO (the other two being beer and hard liquor).

I didn't touch a rasp or a bandsaw, but it was good to see so many making shavings.  Looked like Santa's workshop a week before Christmas, and not just because 3/4 of the people were short and had big ears.  No shortage of Santa look-alikes either.  Needs to be a beard contest next year.

[Ryano]

It sure was great to finally meet y'all I only wish I could of got to shoot a round with everyone and spend some more time talking with every one. Time just seemed to fly by down there. I will most definitely make the trip back next year lord willing, and maybe Greg will have a little time to himself next year so we can get him one of the recurves shootin. I have to compliment everyone at the twin oaks club, it is a top notch facility and you wont find more friendly people any where. Thank you Pappy and Greg for all your hard work and dedication to make this shoot happen. Here's a quick picture of our very own primitive archer family.

[D. Tiller]

Ok! Now whos who? 

[tom sawyer]

I'm wearing a hat.