SO MUCH Going On: New Sticks, Old Sticks, a Character Cues Tournament, Leather Grips, Leather and Bark Rings, 6 Sassafras and Ironwood Live Edge Sticks in the Works, Omigosh!

How’s that for a thorough title? It could be the whole post.

Except I’ll add a few details…

The tournament will be at the Bear Claw, on 322 outside of Reynoldsville, PA. Their back room (which seems to be about a half acre) will have a plank floor completed in a couple weeks. I spoke with the owner and he’s all for hosting the event, and the Bear Claw is ideal: close to interstate 80 and on 322, already hosts 4 different league-nights, plus a weekly Friday night tournament that draws the best shooters around. They have a fantastic 8 footer, and a 7 footer in the back room for the 1-loss side of the double-elimination tournament.

I’ll have my new documentary about Sassy Frassy’s rebuild on the TV screen so folks can see some of the attention to detail that goes into crafting an art stick, and contestants will be encouraged to shoot with my sticks during the tournament — by getting a big discount on a purchase if they do. They’ll also get a discount on a future stick purchase when they buy their entry ticket. Combine the two and the savings will be substantial. First place gets choice of all the sticks I bring, second place gets second choice, third place third. Everyone else will get big discounts on a future purchase, and a chance to play with some of the most unique sticks they’ll ever see.

The video shows sticks I anticipate having there, unless they’re purchased first.

We’ll also be taking video of the games and putting them up on YouTube — if I find some help.

I hope to have the Sassafras rebuild documentary finished today. It’s taken more time than the rebuild. I have a hundred hours of video to boil down to an hour. I’m doing a final edit when I complete this post, so if you’d like to see it, be sure to subscribe to my channel. The only speaking in the video is when I’m explaining something about the build.

My goal for the video was to have as little of my personality in it as possible, and as much of Sassy Frassy’s. I failed of course. My personality knows no bounds — but the video, at least, is entirely about the stick.

I have single piece, cored, spalted, stabilized butts in the works. That’s a major breakthrough for me.

I have a crap ton of birch bark that I’m testing for use as decorative rings, as well as leather… And the last Sassafras limb that fell in the yard will yield 3 sticks like Sassy Frass, except they’ll have more bark on them.

I also dug out my ironwood from the kiln and will begin treating it soon. I expect another 3 sticks out of that. Ironwood looks like Arnold Schwartzamuscle used to. They’re going to be amazingly textured sticks.

They take a lot more time to build, but I think live-edge sticks are going to be my trademark look as much as the spalted stuff.

All in all, I’m working like a madman. Or I’m a working madman. Either way the sticks are fulfilling my earliest dreams about what they ought to look and play like, and I couldn’t be more pumped about Character Cues and having a kickass 2023.

Cheers!