Hello from Bee Tree Folk School!

     We are working hard to complete our Winter/Spring 2025 classes schedule here at the Bee Tree and we are pleased to be able to devote more time to developing our curriculum.  I have been able to officially retire from my position with National Oldtime Fiddlers, Inc. where I served as Executive Director and Festival Director.  Thankfully, we have others in the community taking over my duties, allowing us to work full-time on moving things forward, as it seems there have been a lot of circumstances that have made it extra challenging to go “full-speed ahead” on our plans to offer classes and events year-round.

     Our classes are very affordable.  I have done some comparison shopping and find our class pricing to be well under what others are charging. We will continue to keep classes as affordable as we can.

     If you have knowledge or a skill you would be willing to teach to others, we welcome you to join us as an instructor.  We are looking for crafters, good cooks, bakers, builders, creators of all sorts, who would like to share what they know with others.  The whole idea of folk schools is for “folks” to share their valuable knowledge, hobbies, living skills and creativity with others.  

     If there is something you want to learn, please contact us.  If there is enough interest, we will work to find an instructor to provide the teaching.  There is a lot of interest in self-sufficiency and resiliency classes right now and we have a great start on classes that will address those concerns, with more to come.  So please, share your ideas and needs and let us know how we can best serve our community.

     My motto, insensitive as it may initially sound, is “Don’t die with what you know!”  If the builders of the pyramids had passed on their knowledge to future generations, we would know how they built the pyramids!  So, I am inviting and encouraging those of you who have a skill, hobby, or other talent that you would like to see continue through others, please contact us! 

     Before I close this and send it out, I want to let everyone know that we have two large freeze-dryers available for public use.  We have had many folks take advantage of this to help cut costs on their food storage program.  Folks have used the service to preserve excess home-grown produce, and an abundance of farm-fresh eggs, for example.  The cost is $25 for the entire 5-tray load and that includes 5 resealable mylar storage bags and oxygen absorbers.  Compare the cost of a #10 can of commercially freeze-dried eggs (5-dozen eggs) at a cost of $59.95-$69.95 to a 10-dozen large egg load at a cost of $25 plus cost of eggs, and a shelf life comparable to the commercial variety of 25-years. Not a bad deal, huh?

Wishing you all blessings and good health,
Sandy Cooper