Great job on the gathering today. Good mix of new and experienced builders, great presentations and exchange of information. Thanks also to all of the sponsors who help make it possible. Oh yea, lunch wasn't bad either.

One of these days you will have an "attendee" from central PA!

Rog

Thanks Jim!

We had a great time, and I think everyone left with a bit more knowledge or at least something useful for rod building.

Roger,

You are always welcome, and you don't have to be from Ohio to be an ORB ;). We won't hold it against you.

Joe

Joe, it was great finally meeting you, and I'd like to thank you and Bill and all of the other presenters for putting the gathering together. I had a great time and definitely learned some things that are going to be very helpful to me as I get more into building rods. I'd also like to thank whoever it was that made the food, because it was pretty darn tasty. Please let me know about any other gatherings that you and the others put together, because I'll definitely come if at all possible.

Thanks again kind sir. I truly enjoyed it

Jim,

Thanks to you for making the trek up here yesterday. It was really good to see you again, I wish I had a little more time to be with you, and thanks for the kind words about the gathering

I agree our sponsors did very well for us and I would like to thank Mud Hole, a first time builder went home with everything she needed to build her first rod. Our demonstrator Greg Hromiko went out of his way to help the many first time builders we had at his Basic Rod Building booth.Then they were able to move to Joe Vanfossen who instructed them and many more on the proper way to satic test for placing the guide train. On to Roy Miller who taught them not only how to wrap a guide, but how to do a Prism Wrap on it. Thanks to Tom Kirkman for sending back issues of the article in RodMaker magazine, They can now go home and read up on what they saw .

American Tackle was a great sponsor. 2 guys went home with Bushido Blanks, Two more left with Micro Wave Guides which they have never used them before so I`m sure they will be hooked on them after trying them. Ten fellows left with new hats on there heads also. Be on the look out for more cars and trucks with American tackle and Bushido decals.

One lucky guy left with a gift certificate from Utmost Enterprise. I`m sure he will make good use of it

Two guys left with Jeremy Reeds Mad Swirl Aero reel seets These were beautiful! This will set their rods apart from others, They will shout `CUSTOM BUILT` If you have never tried his Mad Swirl paints do so.His web site is: Reeds Rods.

Lance at Swampland sent a package to sponsor us but it is lost in the mail. the last stamp on the tracking number was in New Orleans on March 9th . I know you sent it in plenty of time and they said it WILL get here. They blamed it on the weather. Please advise me if you would like me to save for our next gathering or refuse acceptance and have it sent back. I know you tried Lance and Thank You!

One of our group had a stash of fibreglass blanks at home from the 70`S (?)which he brought in and nearly everyone left with one. Other builders of our group donated for the occasion also. Everything from Bob n Jig rigs to cork rings, rod racks two packets of unused shade packs of Maderia thread

Thanks also to the rest of our demonstrators. John Powell who came in from the Niagra Falls area and showed us a lot on how to use Visual wrap and some of his unusual tools some he had fabricated just for him.

Farther down the line we had Bob Keller and Ronnie Scheetz who showed us how they pour plastics. Then we had Herb Tidrick who was tying so many flies he almost missed lunch. I believe most everyone left with at least one of them. He also brought in a display of old, old bamboo fly rods some in natural condition and some refinished. I tried to take one home but, he said NO!

Roy Miller was next doing his Prism wrap. He also brought in a nice display of his handmade wood rods. Folks, they are beautiful to say the least.
He also brought in some wooden rod cases he made. What talent this man had. Last in the row was David Dosser. Dave put on a weaving demonstrations, from how to start a weave with various stages until it was finished. Nice display Dave.

The food was donated by the ORBS group and we had so much we could not eat it all and yes, it was good!. These are a GREAT bunch of guys. I am very lucky as I get to see them about every month for breakfast. We also have a few more guys who may be joining us every month for breakfast. we now have 6 or 7 and it could go up to 11 or 12. I AM VERY THANKFUL FOR MEETING WITH THESE GUYS EVERY MONTH.
They mean a lot to me, almost family if you know what I mean. well maybe not all of them, one keeps bugging me to be put in my will. He doesn`t even look like me. HONESTLY!!!

We as a group have decided to hold our next gathering in a much larger hall about 15 miles south of Canton. and hope to double our size. We had 28-30 attend this year, at least two did not register. In order to double our size we will be looking for demonstrators on doing grips, EVA and wood, feather inlays, snake skin inlays, writing on rods and anything else. If any one out there would like to volunteer, PLEASE DO SO. Also if we could get some Pro Staffers we would be so greatful. How nice it would be to be able to buy your products here, several people have asked if anything would be available

Not to ramble on and on but, If I missed anyone please forgive me. and thanks again for making this possible.

Bill Eshelman

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/16/2015 01:05PM by Bill Eshelman.

Thanks for coming Dave, it was good to have you in the bunch. Wait until you see next year. We are going to grow!!!


Bill

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

Also Thanks to Joe Azar who is always there to help in any way needed. You are a big help to me.

Bill

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

Also Thanks to Joe Azar who is always there to help in any way needed. You are a big help to me.

Bill

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

Hey guys,

Nice to meet up with you all. Thanks for allowing me to contribute and share. I hope all the people who picked up one of My Dec Wrap Pattern Planning tools will find it helpful. Just about everyone picked one up.

You had a nice presentation John, thanks for coming and sharing your knowledge!

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

John,

I'm a big fan of your handle-through headstock. That is a fantastic innovation. It was nice to meet and put a fact to a name.

Joe,

Glad you liked that, a lot of people overlooked the headstock. Most people's eyes got attracted to the candy (fish skin airbrushed foam core grips) and they passed right over that headstock. It makes it a lot easier to work on repairs when you can grab a front grip instead of a highly tapered butt cap.

Sounds like I missed an amazing time! Hey next year you should see if you can get LarryTobin who sells the PEAR label 270 printing system to set up at the show.
He might do it since you are expanding your size of the show. I love my 270 system.

Mark Warnke

Black Swamp Custom Rods

Good idea Mark, Can you e-mail me some contact Info to bkcustomrods@yahoo.com?

Bill

Ohio Rod Builders

Canton, Ohio

yeppers

Mark Warnke

Black Swamp Custom Rods