Soar and Rhineback notes by Eric Morti

Trip Report ~ SOAR 2008
SOAR (Spin-Off’s Autumn Retreat) is an annual retreat held each year in mid to late October for members of the hand-spinning community. Attendance averages around 250 participants. The retreat consists of intensive three-day workshops, a one-day break, and two days of half-day mini-workshops. There is a vendors’ market in addition to the workshops, the opening of which coincides with the one-day break. The retreat is held in a different region of the country each year. This year it was at Pocono Manor, PA in southeastern Pennsylvania. Next year it will be held in Bend, OR.

To spread the word about suri fiber to the hand-spinning community, members of the product development committee collected fiber which was processed into roving, prepared sample bags to be given to each SOAR participant, created an education exhibit, and recruited hand-spinners, Judith McKenzie McCuin and Wini LeBreque, to demonstrate and assist the participants in spinning suri fiber. Roving and a portion of raw fleece were also donated to Judith McKenzie McCuin, one of the mentors, for use in her mini-workshops on blending silk with other natural fibers. Judith is an internationally known fiber artist and Wini is head of the PAOBA fiber committee and quite knowledgeable in her own right.

Even before the workshops started people were asking me if we had brought fiber to sell. After placing the sample bags at each place setting for the Monday evening meal, the question was even more persistent. Everyone was very appreciative of the sample and impressed with the fiber. Many people had spun the sample into yarn before the end of the week. The roving and fleece that we gave to Judith for her silk blending sessions were a huge hit. Those sessions, along with the sample bags of roving, were our best outreach tools. Unfortunately, we can’t expect the silk blending mini-workshops to be offered every year.

The vendors’ market is one of the high points of the retreat. The educational exhibit and spinning demonstration area was located just outside the entrance to the market so we got a lot of traffic, both participants and the general public. SAM was positioned so that he was the first thing people saw as they approached the market and he made quite an impression. In the exhibit we had samples of raw fleece, roving, yarns, and finished products such as socks, scarves, and a rug. Touching was encouraged and everyone who indulged was impressed with the fiber in all its forms. While Judith and Wini did not draw huge crowds at any one time, when the market was open there were usually a handful of people at the booth, asking questions or sitting at the wheels trying their hand. Wini had her laptop and we were able to help several people locate farms in their area.

The weekend after SOAR was the New York Sheep and Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, New York. Nina and I stayed over and met up with Ken and Claudia Raessler, handing the hardware for the educational exhibit over to them at the end of the festival. Rhinebeck is an institution in the region and is similar in scope to other regional fiber festivals such as the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, Black Sheep Gathering (in the Northwest), and the Estes Park and Taos Wool Markets. Alpacas in general and suris in particular are just one small facet of these events.

The general public represents a huge fraction of the attendance, approximately 30,000 people over the two-day festival. Our educational booth was in the barn with llamas and alpacas. Ken and Claudia brought three of their animals, who stayed in the pen next to the educational booth. The animals were a major attraction, causing a lot of people to stop that might not have otherwise. As at SOAR, there was someone spinning in the booth whenever the festival was open. The committee, particularly Claudia and Anne Mayes, did an excellent job of coordinating that effort.
Since the general public was a larger percentage of the audience, education played a bigger role in the function of the booth at Rhinebeck. Our primary goals at these two events were to let people know that there are two breeds of alpaca with different fiber characteristics and uses and to encourage them to find and visit suri breeders in their area. I think we did well with the first goal and only time will tell how we did with the second