What an incredible day we had for our second annual Meetup event! Estimates on attendance put numbers between 80 and 100 people who showed up to commune with other textile aficionados. Smiles were everywhere, even in the intense sun. Product vendors, demonstrations, speakers, and food were offered.
Sarah Pottle, a co-founder of the Rustbelt Fibershed spoke to a rapt crowd while demonstrating the use of a hand cranked decorticator on plant fibers. Betsy Franjola, the founder of the Hocking Hills Garment Center offered a tour of the facility to visitors.
One highlight of the event was the presence of sheep from a small farm in Vinton County called Small Potatoes Farm. The animals were held in a pen for people to check out and pet, and visitors who stayed long enough got to witness all three sheep getting sheared! A shout out and BIG thank you to Gavyn and Natasha of Altitude Shearing! These Akron-based shearers work all over Ohio, helping to fill a void for southeast Ohio small holder farms.
We also want to thank the following organizations for helping make this event special.
- Shagbark Seed and Mill who donated snack bags of their popular cornchips
- Crumbs Bakery for sweet treats
- Rural Action for letting us borrow their Zero Waste dishware.
We want to thank everyone who made the trek to the Garment Center or passed through out of curiosity. Your excitement was contagious and I hope you will attend our next event!
We would love to hear from you if you attended the event and would like to comment about it, please do so below!
Publicity
Other than many social media posts and word of mouth among the textile community, the following highlighted or featured the event.
Both the Logan Daily News (behind a paywall) and the Athens Independent published press releases for the event.
Southeast Ohio Fibershed 
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