Y ou need to apply for this,” my mom messaged me on a Sunday evening, along with a link to an Ely Folk School post about a stone masonry workshop at the Steger Center. The day before, I had begun to stack short decorative stone walls on either side of a trail on our property. We purchased acreage next to our home a couple of summers ago, and my favorite hobby—as a counterweight to my largely digital career— is exploring those acres and discovering what the land has to offer. Turns out it’s lots and lots of stone. And so, I threw my hat in the ring for the five- day, $100 workshop with no expectations other than learning how to build things with stone. They were prioritizing local applicants who wanted to create things with stone around their properties or homes. My acceptance email came about a month later, along with a packing list and brief description of what we’d be working on. On a hazy Monday early morning in late July, I pulled into the Steger Center along with a dozen or so other workshop students. The unassuming entrance gave way to a flurry of activity and projects being worked on by various staff and volunteers. Stacks of reclaimed wood, metal, and other materials lined the driveway alongside cabins, outhouses, and tool sheds. Then you see “the castle”, a veritable monument to traditional trades and craftspeople. Over the span of 40 years (and counting), stone masons, timber framers, and glaziers have built something that seems like it should be impossible to build.
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ISSUE ONE, SEPT 2025
11
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