• Important Note:  Our July meeting will be held on Saturday, July 11th due to the July 4th holiday.
• Important Note:  Membership dues were due in January. If you have not paid them yet, dues will be collected at our March meeting. Dues are $10 and are payable by cash or check made out to “TVHG.” Please direct any questions to the treasurer, Erin Kelley.
• Spinning Workshop:  If you have not paid for the June Workshop, please make this payment.
• Focus Group: One of the Guild members, Steve Prentice has offered to set up a Small Group for an hour, he will bring some suri alpaca and wool, some 30/70% wool/alpaca and some 50/50% wool alpaca. He’ll card up enough so everyone who participates in the small group can have a try at spinning some of each. Those who want to participate should bring their spinning device and something to take notes on. This Focus Group will begin promptly at 10:00 AM for folks who are interested in giving Alpaca a try.
• Demonstration Opportunities:  The Guild has committed to several demonstration opportunities if you would like to volunteer, please contact the listed person below:  Smoky Mountain Fiber Festival-demos at Townsend Visitor Center (may sell) Apr 9-15 contact JoAnn Neary; Smoky Mountain Fiber Festival-demos, (may sell) during festival April 17-19 Contact Deborah Adams; Rossini Festival-April 25-Guild sponsored (no selling); Vestival-May 9, 11-3, 3-7 not sponsored by Guild, (may sell), contact Patty Benton (Note: I believe all of the opportunites except the Vestival festival opportunities were filled as of the April meeting.)
• Call for Volunteers: Volunteers are needed to participate on the Dye Day Committee for our October meeting. Please contact Patty Benton if you would like to help.

From Angela Shilling:

Many of you know me as “The Market Square Farmers’ Market Spinner” or as “That Green Urbanite lady;” but, as a fellow guild member, I wanted to let you know about a late addition class I will be teaching for the Smokey Mountain Fiber Arts Festival. Sunday, at 12:30 p.m., we will be spending 2 hours working with environmentally friendly bast bamboo fiber and learning/practicing our 1 ply to 3 ply Navajo plying technique.
One ounce of undyed bast bamboo is included in the price of the class. A great way to enjoy the last day of the festival, sign up now for this fun, informative class! For more details and to register please visit here.
Thanks!

From Susan Gawarecki:

The Great Llama Race will be held on Saturday, April 11, 2015, 11:00 a.m., at the Worlds Fair Park. The event will benefit Casa de Sara, Southeast Llama Rescue, and local schools. Celebrity runners will race with area llamas for cash prizes to local schools. Llama ambassadors, vendors, entertainers, food, music, a children’s section, crafts, games and other competitions will be spread out around the grounds.

Details at thegreatllamarace.com

From the Guild’s Website:

We received the following invitation from Sharon Bogenschutz with the Georgia Fiberfest: “Would like to make your guild aware of and invite your members to The Georgia Fiberfest. This years event is September 10th – 12th. Our website is gafiberfest.com. April is when we update the site for the 2015 rollout. Pam Powers is this years speaker/teacher and spinner Patsy Zawistoski is the featured artist for 2016. Hope to see you! Thanks.”

Sandy Gray at Yarn Haven in Knoxville asked that we make the membership aware of the 3rd Annual East TN Yarn Crawl which will run from June 5 – 20, 2015. The goal is to visit as many of the participating yarn stores in East Tennessee during this period. Lots of prizes, Good Fellowship and a Fun Time. All the details are on the ETYC website: www.easttnyarncrawl.com.