alankulwicki7
Member
Every summer for the last 5 years, I go out to Lemmon, SD and help my in-laws do some projects on their little farm house.
Well, Lemmon, SD is about 80 or 90 miles from Faith, SD and Faith, SD is home to the IAP's very on Derek Oliver (D. Oliver). So this trip I had a little spare time so I decided to make a trip down to visit Derek Oliver.
Now South Dakota is very vast and has many small towns. Many of which have populations less than most apartment buildings in other parts of the country.
When I made the trek down to Faith, I was expecting a town that looked like this:
You know, one of those towns where everything is all in one building
On my jaunt down from Lemmon, I drove by this mail box. I wanted to stop and take a few antlers but I just took this picture instead.:biggrin:
Oh, and it was hot too. It was about 94 degrees when I left Lemmon and about half way to Faith, I noticed the temp was slowly rising. Just a minute before I stopped to take this picture, the temp was 100!
Thankfully the AC was working well in my in-laws car. About an hour later, I pulled in to Faith and here is what I saw:
It was a quaint little town (pop. 421) with a Main Street that was a couple of blocks long.
So I finally met up with Derek and had a great visit. I did not take any pictures of Derek or his shop but he does exist and has a nice setup. We talked for a while, Derek gave me a shop tour and showed off some of his pens. He had a couple that he made but he also showed off some of the pens he received during pen swaps. Derek does some beautiful work and the pen swap pens were gorgeous as well.
Derek and I then had dinner and one of the few places in down (the Timburger was awesome BTW :biggrin
. And Derek insisted on buying. What a nice treat!
Before I left, Derek loaded up the back of my car with a bunch of really nice wood. Some Russian Olive, Boxelder, and Cedar to name a few. He also tossed in some great pen blanks.
I'll be heading out that way again in August and if Derek is up for another visit, I will be sure to stop by.
Thanks again for the great hospitality, Derek!
Well, Lemmon, SD is about 80 or 90 miles from Faith, SD and Faith, SD is home to the IAP's very on Derek Oliver (D. Oliver). So this trip I had a little spare time so I decided to make a trip down to visit Derek Oliver.
Now South Dakota is very vast and has many small towns. Many of which have populations less than most apartment buildings in other parts of the country.
When I made the trek down to Faith, I was expecting a town that looked like this:
You know, one of those towns where everything is all in one building

On my jaunt down from Lemmon, I drove by this mail box. I wanted to stop and take a few antlers but I just took this picture instead.:biggrin:
Oh, and it was hot too. It was about 94 degrees when I left Lemmon and about half way to Faith, I noticed the temp was slowly rising. Just a minute before I stopped to take this picture, the temp was 100!
Thankfully the AC was working well in my in-laws car. About an hour later, I pulled in to Faith and here is what I saw:
It was a quaint little town (pop. 421) with a Main Street that was a couple of blocks long.
So I finally met up with Derek and had a great visit. I did not take any pictures of Derek or his shop but he does exist and has a nice setup. We talked for a while, Derek gave me a shop tour and showed off some of his pens. He had a couple that he made but he also showed off some of the pens he received during pen swaps. Derek does some beautiful work and the pen swap pens were gorgeous as well.
Derek and I then had dinner and one of the few places in down (the Timburger was awesome BTW :biggrin

Before I left, Derek loaded up the back of my car with a bunch of really nice wood. Some Russian Olive, Boxelder, and Cedar to name a few. He also tossed in some great pen blanks.
I'll be heading out that way again in August and if Derek is up for another visit, I will be sure to stop by.
Thanks again for the great hospitality, Derek!