Carving wooden spoons from scratch at Sloane

Carving wooden spoons from scratch at Sloane

Rick Liegl shows axe carving techniques.

Lans Christensen

KENT — On Saturday, Aug. 10, the Eric Sloane Museum hosted a hands-on workshop devoted to custom carved wooden spoons. Master Craftsman Rick Liegl of South Windsor led the class.

A group of six attended the workshop and learned not just spoon carving but the enormous variety and importance of early American woodcrafts.

As Liegl said, “There’s a universe in this green woodworking world.”

In the early days, he explained, if you had a job and needed a tool, you made the tool out of the most available material: wood.

Eric Sloane Museum in Kent hosted a day-long course Aug. 10 to teach attendees the art of carving wooden spoons by hand.Lans Christensen

The Eric Sloane Museum has a vast and fascinating collection of wooden tools and Liegl provided a brief tour of the displays. As the six-hour workshop progressed, participants learned volumes about wood variety, axe carving, knife carving methods, and safety as well.

Not just historically significant, this workshop sent happy participants home with their own hand carved wooden spoon.

Latest News

Sharon Dennis Rosen

SHARON — Sharon Dennis Rosen, 83, died on Aug. 8, 2025, in New York City.

Born and raised in Sharon, Connecticut, she grew up on her parents’ farm and attended Sharon Center School and Housatonic Valley Regional High School. She went on to study at Skidmore College before moving to New York City, where she married Dr. Harvey Rosen and together they raised two children.

Keep ReadingShow less
‘Garland Jeffreys: The King of In Between’ at the Moviehouse

Claire and Garland Jeffreys in the film “The King of In Between.”

Still from "The King of In between"

There is a scene in “The King of In Between,” a documentary about musician Garland Jeffreys, that shows his name as the answer to a question on the TV show “Jeopardy!”

“This moment was the film in a nutshell,” said Claire Jeffreys, the film’s producer and director, and Garland’s wife of 40 years. “Nobody knows the answer,” she continued. “So, you’re cool enough to be a Jeopardy question, but you’re still obscure enough that not one of the contestants even had a glimmer of the answer.”

Keep ReadingShow less
Haystack Book Festival: writers in conversation
Jerome A. Cohen, author of the memoir \u201cEastward, Westward: A Lifein Law.\u201d
Jerome A. Cohen, author of the memoir \u201cEastward, Westward: A Lifein Law.\u201d

The Haystack Book Festival, a program of the Norfolk Hub, brings renowned writers and thinkers to Norfolk for conversation. Celebrating its fifth season this fall, the festival will gather 18 writers for discussions at the Norfolk Library on Sept. 20 and Oct. 3 through 5.

Jerome A. Cohen, author of the memoir “Eastward, Westward: A Lifein Law.”Haystack Book Festival

Keep ReadingShow less