I just wanted to let you know that I had an awesome, fantastic, peaceful, and knowledge-filled weekend. I do not fully understand what it takes to put together a gathering like this(MAPS Meet 2010), but I want you to know that with my whole heart I appreciate and am thankful for everything that you and your crew did to make this happen. You and everybody else that I met this weekend are some of the best, coolest people in the world.
Peace man, I hope to run into you again soon. -Jesse Hamilton 2010 MAPS Meet Participant
Isaac and Phyllis came home yesterday just glowing with happiness though several layers of dirt! Several years ago, they had a pre-school teacher who said, “You can tell how much fun they have had by how dirty they are at the end of the day.”. Ever since they just love announcing with pride how dirty they are and so, how much fun they had that day. Well, they must have had a tremendously great time at camp!
Once again, thank you for running the camp this past week and all the other programs offered by AK -Kirsten W., parent of NOVA Home School participant
I don’t think Noah and Aidan had much written on their feedback forms last Thursday. But I wanted you to know that as soon as we turned onto our street, Aidan said that he’d really miss it out there, and that the camp-out was one of the best things he’s ever done in his whole life. Noah is a man of very few words, but he said it was better than he expected.
They’ve been telling us about it in bits and pieces the last few days. They loved Joe’s Irish rabbit impressions. They’ve been looking for some of the plants they ID’ed out there. Well, they have lots of cool stories. I’m not sure what might work for a fall program. If nothing else, I’m sure we’ll do another camp-out.- Anne NOVA Home School Group Parent
Thank you for scheduling the fishing workshop. Guy is a fantastic instructor. I feel that I have the knowledge and experience to use the skills that were taught effectively in the future. Again, thank you for the experience.-David Bitler, Primitive Fishing workshop
Dakota absolutely loved camp. He learned so much and taught us what he learned- always great! He enjoyed the counselors, campers, games, stories, activities, everything except missing the last night camp-out. He says everything was great! His least favorite thing was that camp was over too quickly.
As parents, we noticed how much self-confidence Dakota gained during this week in addition to the skills he learned. That in itself was worth the price of camp. Everything else was a bonus.
Thank you, Debra, for all your time and energy in this project and for making this camp happen. Thank you, Rhubarb Jam, for hosting this adventure. And a big thank you, Ancestral Knowledge, for your nice counselors, devotion, unique-ness, and, well, ancestral knowledge!
Thank you for this fine adventure for our son. He will have terrific memories of that week and we hope to repeat this experience. -Scott, Cindy, and Dakota- Members of Rhubarb Jam Homeschool
I just wanted to say thanks for a fabulous skill building day. Your presentation really worked through all the little steps that make obtaining fire possible. It’s clear why I didn’t get a fire started from some early let’s wing it type approaches, I didn’t do many of the steps correctly at all. Also, I was amazed at the creation of the cordage from the dogbane. I enjoyed that so much that I went to a wildlife area on Sunday and picked about 20 or so stalks. They weren’t in great condition, but I think they are suitable enough to get some practice done. -Dan Clements Fire by friction 2010
My 8 year old daughter, Abbey, had a great time at AK camp. It was very well organized and the AK guides were great. Everyday she came happy, full of energy, and begging to spend more time outside. Her favorite memories are of splashing in the creek, hiking in the woods, getting to eat plants, learning to use a knife, and Joe’s stories. We were hiking in a field as a family a week later, and Abbey was showing us all the plants she had learned to identify and use. It was very impressive! We will definitely be coming back next year!-Shawna parent of Woods Wise day camp participant
“The best thing that happened so far this year was the Ancient Ways program. While we were there, it was fun and educational. We learned a lot about ancient people and our environment. Our teacher was Bill Kaczor, he was nice and knowledgeable.”-A’ishah, Montessori Elementary School student
Wow…. awesome course!!! Great instructor…. very impressed!-Mark McDermott Wild Edible and Useful Plants Workshop
“Some of us thought the best part was getting to do what the ancient people did to meet their needs. We learned that these people had to work together, and all had a job. Other good parts were learning to make rope and tools and finding deer bones.”-Gail, Montessori Elementary School student
I have been so impressed with the confidence my kids have shown after attending the Woods Wise Camp. They have new skills and really enjoy being out in the woods. They share stories they’ve heard, plants they recognize, and other bits of knowledge about living in tune with nature. I especially enjoy watching them turn on their “wide angle” vision and stalk local wildlife. Every day they came home dirty, tired, and happy.-Debra member of Rhubarb Jam Home School Group
This camp is amazing. I’ve been involved with Ancestral Knowledge for a couple years now and every event I’ve done has been great. My favorite thing to learn at these camps is stalking (walking quietly to sneak up on animals). I think it’s really cool to get camouflaged with mud and move without being seen. Now I really love going out in the woods in my back yard and trying to see all the animals that live there.-Sara Woods Wise Day Camp 2007
“It was really fun doing a loads of activities… making pouches, bow drills, etc…. This is my 3rd year and I will definitely be back next year!”-Jacob Rhubarb Jam Home School Participant
“The Ancient Ways program was about what ancient people did to meet their fundamental needs. For example, to build a shelter, first they would look for a good location. They would look for high ground so if a river flooded then they would not have to evacuate. Besides learning about shelter, we also learned to make rope, and to make tools from stone and bones. We also learned many other things about ancient people.”-Dommanita, elementary school student
I highly recommend Bill’s bow-building class to anyone who is interesting in self-bows. During the Baltimore Trad Classic, in 3 days, Bill took us thru every step in the bow building process, and I came away with not only a great bow, that I plan on hunting with, but the knowledge and confidence to build many more. I have already started on another bow and can’t say enough about the class.-Mark Childers, Westminster, MD
The Meet the Plants class was a lot of fun. We got to try many different plants that I see everyday and never would have thought about eating them. He even brought a pie that some of his students made, it was pretty good. I also wanted to know when we can get together to smoke my hide, I wouldn’t have been able to make it down there today with it being Mother’s Day and all. Just let me know when you have some free time and we can get together and take care of it. If you are in the Glen Burnie area any time this week we could do it at my house as well. I have a nice size back yard and no HOA so we don’t have to worry about anyone complaining : ). Look forward to hearing from you soon. Bye for now.-Henry, Meet the plants participant
I really enjoyed the class today. Thank you for offering it. Please let me know if you schedule a summer class.
Happy Knapping to you!-Lara, meet the plants participant
This was a very professionally run class and I found the instructor, Bill Kaczor, to be extremely knowledgeable about numerous primitive fire making techniques. He demonstrated several techniques successfully and had fire making kits available as demonstration tools. He then instructed the class on the history of fire making and on how to make the various pieces of a bow drill fire kit. He assisted us through the process of making our own kits and ended the day with us attempting to start a fire using our kits. I was able to start a fire with a bow drill on my first try despite never having attempted this skill before. Without his expert instruction on the various subtle, but key clues into this skill, I would never have been successful. This was a very fulfilling and enjoyable class and I recommend it to anyone who has enthusiasm for learning outdoor skills.-Mark, 2008 Quest For Fire student
The wilderness survival program at Georgetown was diverse and interesting and exposed me to things I would have otherwise never have thought about. It definitely widened my horizons.-Sara, Georgetown University Student
I really enjoyed the bow and hand drill, plant and tree identification and sit spot exercises. Identification of the forest ecology was most pertinent to me and the sits really let me open my eyes and feel more comfortable alone outdoors. It really opened my mind and my senses. I would definitely recommend this program to others, you don’t just learn the skills, you learn a whole new way of looking at the world.-Jonathan, Georgetown University student
Our survival program was and excellent experience. Great for those interested in the subject of survival and nature. It also game me a perspective of how things work compared to what we are used to in our industrial society. The instructors went above and beyond what I expected in the class.-Matt Georgetown University student
My daughter and I loved your primitive pottery class. Digging our hands into the clay and making pinch pots and coil pots was a great learning experience and a great way to reconnect with the Earth. Thanks for the education =)-Lisa and kayli, pottery workshop 2007
“Baltimore Bowmen was a blast of a great time and shoot. There was a small contingent of young, dedicated men (about 4 or 5) who were working very hard to perpetuate all of the ancient primitive arts and ways dealing with all aspects of archery including knapping (ABO only). I was impressed, signed a petition for allowing primitive archery gear to be used in MD (currently broad heads must be steel), bought a T- shirt from them to support the movement, and saw some nice points and a little knapping in the three times I visited their set-up . I had very interesting talks with a couple of them, saw wood billets up close and personal, and met another onlooker, whom I was so pleased to meet in person, Woody Blackwell.”
Hope y’all find some interest in this post, and I wish those dedicated “youngsters”/Ancients from B’more good luck in your pursuits.”-Bernie, “Hunters Are People Too”
