By Reader Staff
Members of the Timber Framers Guild will converge on Sandpoint to participate in a special workshop organized by local craftsman Collin Beggs.
Guild members will learn from two master carpenters specializing in traditional Japanese timber framing during a 10-day course at the University of Idaho Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center, and the class project — a bell pavilion — will be installed at Pine Street Woods to hold the bell created by local artist Mark Kubiak.
Courtesy photo.
While in Sandpoint, the Timber Framers Guild, in partnership with Kaniksu Land Trust, will host TimberFest, Friday, June 9-Sunday, June 11. The event, open to the public, will bring together more than 100 attendees for a weekend celebrating craft and community, and featuring a variety of demonstrations and speakers, as well as a KidsBuild and tours.
The weekend kicks off June 9 with a tour, during which TimberFest participants will visit a local mill, the Sandpoint Organic Agriculture Center and Pine Street Woods, including a stop at the Kaniksu Lumber milling site, where they will learn about the portable mill shared through a partnership with Bonner Soil and Water Conservation District and the lumber retail and forestry education initiative supported by Weyerhaeuser Family Foundation. Following a welcome dinner at the Ag Center, attendees will head to downtown Sandpoint to explore.
Saturday features presentations by Dale Brotherton, who builds in the Japanese tradition; Indigenous craftsman Shawn Brigman; Ken Conger, of the Bonner County Historical Society; Joe Miller from Fire Tower Engineered Timber, who provided his expertise in reviewing the engineering aspects of the bell tower; and Autumn Peterson, who will talk about the guild’s community building projects in her hometown in Oregon. Beggs, Kubiak and KLT Executive Director Katie Egland Cox will talk about the bell pavilion, its inspiration and development.
Kubiak designed and crafted the bell, paying homage to the natural and historic heritage of the area.
“All of the work that has been done on the bell is referencing the flora and fauna of the area and things that might be seen or experienced in the woods around here, plus a little bit of Native American mythology,” he said. “I call it the legacy bell, referring to the ongoing legacy of Pine Street Woods.”
Throughout Saturday, attendees will have the opportunity to visit exhibitors and take in
demonstrations. Master craftspeople will be demonstrating tool sharpening techniques and care, hewing, and more. Participants in TimberFest may also wish to try their hand at the ax throwing or hewing competition.
Before closing out the weekend, engineer Jennifer Anthony and architect and designer Mira Steinbrecher will share their perspective on the design and engineering of timber frame structures.
Guild members and Kaniksu Folk School instructors will lead KidsBuild, a woodcraft and timber framing workshop for children of local families and visiting guild members. Younger children will build a timber frame bench and table. Older youth can participate in a two-day collaborative project building a larger timber frame structure. The cost for KidsBuild is $25 per day. All supplies and tools are provided.
“This event has been over three years in the making, starting with the gift of the commemorative bell designed and cast by Mark [Kubiak]. Then, we pulled local timber framer Collin Beggs into the project knowing that the bell needed a very special structure to house it,” Egland Cox said. “Collin’s idea to incorporate the Timber Framers Guild and the greater community in the creation of this space is such a fitting culmination of the project.”
According to Beggs, “For many years I’ve dreamt of an opportunity to bring the Timber Framers Guild to Sandpoint for a community workshop. When I found out that the bell was being created I saw an opportunity to have world class craft training and cultural exchange, while serving the community of Sandpoint, which I love.”
Allison Aurand, of the Timber Framers Guild, noted the significance of building relationships with communities for the organization: “Guild members are all about learning together and sharing their craft, and these kinds of workshops and events offer an opportunity not just to connect with one another but with new friends in new places. We’ve been lucky to join with Kaniksu Land Trust and the Sandpoint community thanks to Collin Beggs, and can’t wait to see how this friendship develops.”
Participation in TimberFest is open to the public. Registration is available through kaniksu.org/happenings. For more information about the Timber Framers Guild, visit tfguild.org.
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