A blast of the past

Once upon a time there was a shop by the name of . . . . 

The Blacksmith of Missouri Association would once again hold a meeting in the famous shop of the late, great Doug Hendrickson, aka Dr. Iron.

A day before the meeting friends would gather to collect, brush off, price, and box up the remaining inventory of Doug's shop.   Items were then set out for sale to the blacksmiths attending the meeting.

The blacksmith torches off the bolts where a trip hammer once beat out tons of metal.

Doug's BAM apron was one of the items for sale.

Items ran out into the yard. 

The shop looks the same as it did years ago. But it's not the same without Doug.

Friday evening after some dusty, dirty work and a dip in the Black River, fellow blacksmith's pulled out their instruments and played music. Something that would have been done in years past.

Saturday morning, the meeting was opened with thank yous from Bonnie, Doug's awesome wife. She blessed us with a prayer and thanked us for the work being done in Doug's memory.

Today the items being made were all things Doug was famous for. Here Bob Alexander works on an iron skillet.

 Pat McCarty works on the handle for the skillet.

Bernie made two veggie choppers just the way Doug made them. A very close copy, because when cleaning out the shop, we found two old blank cut outs left there by Doug, and those are what he used for the demo. 

Trade items was a bottle opener. I spy one out of Damascus, a folding one at that.

Two unique ones, both a multi-purpose tool. 

Maybe the most unusual one, a crayfish!

 A dragon even appeared, made by my blacksmith.

At noon the Relay for Life ladies, aka "the lunch ladies", showed up with BBQ pork sandwiches, slaw, baked beans, and homemade dessert, including iced tea and lemonade for only $5 a plate. The bargain of the day.

Dr Joe, Doug's dentist, came and presented the organization with a check in memory of Doug to go towards a scholarship fund.

I was a little late in taking all the demonstrators pictures. I don't know, I think these four shown here at pretty hot. However the fry pan indicates that the missing demonstrator, Al Stephens, is "hot".

It was an awesome day, tools being purchased, techniques shown, and lots of stories told, some included a few tears too. 

Thank you Bonnie, for hosting a wonderful event for all of us. 

Miss you much Dr. Iron.