Beads a plenty

Colorful Crafting:
Hand bags and beaded bracelets made for trading and selling at different rondezvous around the state. Beaded items were traded when the mountain men and trappers would come out of the wilderness each year.

The women of the Northern Free Trappers and Muzzle Loaders Club get together each week to work on projects to sell at rendezvous and to use as prizes at local club events. The group started with two members a year ago and is now up to eight members strong. They gather each week working on old projects and learning new techniques from other local crafters. They have made ear rings, belts, hat bands, medicine bags, and are getting ready to learn to make dream catchers beading on leather, off loom beading, wooden plaques, powder horns and other items. Each member of the group also brings their own specialty to the group. For the different rendezvous traders bring different clothing, bead work, shooting supplies and other items. The Northern Free Trappers assembled a cookbook last year and approximately 50 remain unsold. They are preparing a second volume this year.

The Northern Free Trappers has 70 to 80 families among their membership with new members still coming in. In November, the group will hold the 15th annual Darryl Burbank Memorial Turkey Shoot, which is a benefit for a cancer patient that is held each year.