The 2023 ANWG Conference is less than one year away. Are you making plans to participate and attend?  The Conference Committee is looking forward to greeting you in the beautiful Riverhouse Convention Center venue in Bend, Oregon.  This blog post will again introduce our Keynote Speaker, Jeanne Carver, and tell you a bit about the activities available for you at the conference in June 2023.  Ila McCallum, Events & Activities Chair, 2023 Fiber Connections Conference Committee

Jeanne and her late husband Dan have been the force behind Imperial Stock Ranch since the late 1980’s.  In 2017, the Imperial Stock Ranch became the first ranch in the world to be Responsible Wool Standard certified. Ralph Lauren chose Jeanne Carver’s wool (Imperial Stock Ranch – Shaniko Wool Company) for the last three Winter Olympics Team USA Uniforms.

Jeanne is a dynamic person who will not only be our keynote speaker on Friday evening, but you will see her throughout the conference.  Look for her at her Shaniko Wool booth in the Marketplace.

Photo Copyright Paul Thacker

To learn more about Shaniko Wool Company, click here https://shanikowoolcompany.com/.  Information on Imperial Stock Ranch can be found here https://imperialstockranch.com/.

There will be many activities and events to keep you busy during conference week.

Are you a member of Complex Weavers, ANWG Historical Weaving Study Group, or Jane Stafford’s School of Weaving?  These groups will have meetings at the conference, in addition to the ANWG Annual Membership Meeting. Rebecca Winter is hosting a meet up of HGA COE in Weaving participants. The School of Weaving will be meeting virtually with Jane on Saturday afternoon, June 17.

You will want to spend some time in the exhibits room.  You will find the Conference Colors Exhibit, the Juried, Open, and Instructors show exhibits. Information for all these exhibits can be found at the conference website:  https://anwgconference.org/archive/2023//

Some other activities to plan for are fiber art demonstrations; we will be seeking demonstrators for Friday and Saturday. Door prizes will be awarded Thursday-Saturday of conference week.  If you want to sit and chat for a while working on a project, there will be a Spin-in, Knit-in, Weave-in corner with chairs and tables for you to use.  Bring a towel for the towel exchange Wed-Sat. and pick up a different towel on Saturday.  Do you like to watch decorated shuttles with wheels compete for a prize on a track?  The shuttle race is for you.

Events off site include the Johansen Tapestry exhibit at Central Oregon Community College library in the beautiful Rotunda Gallery.  Margaret Johansen was an internationally known tapestry weaver who lived in McMinnville, Oregon, and her art hangs in churches and other venues in Oregon.

If you would like to see some of the ranch life in the area, we are planning to offer a bus trip to the Crescent Moon Alpaca Ranch, in Terrebonne, north of Redmond on Highway 97.  This is a beautiful ranch where you can feed the alpacas and shop in their delightful boutique store for alpaca themed items and yes, YARN.

If you and your family would like to learn more about the area for vacation possibilities, look at these websites: Travel Oregon at https://traveloregon.com/ and Visit Bend at https://www.visitbend.com/.

We look forward to hosting you and your fellow guild members at the long-awaited 2023 ANWG Conference, Fiber Connections.

Hotel Reservations  ~  Information and reservation links to the 3 conference hotels will be available in a special blog in early August. Sign up now to receive the information first.

 Stay updated ~~ The Weaving Guilds of Oregon steering committee is very busy planning for the upcoming Association of Northwest Weavers’ Guilds Conference at the Riverhouse Hotel and Convention Center in Bend, Oregon June 11-18, 2023. Please continue to visit our website for information and conference updates. If you would like to receive information delivered to your inbox, please subscribe to the conference blog.