Tillers Instructor Sewell Mason
Accolade: Pat, Sewell Mason keep blacksmithing art alive
Kalamazoo Gazette
September 23, 2006
Sewell Mason is retired, but that doesn't stop him from being an active blacksmith.
The Lawrence resident has loved the art of blacksmithing ever since he was 11 years old, when he worked with a blacksmith for a summer in his hometown of Beech Grove, Tenn.
"At that time, a blacksmith was very important in the community," he said.
He remembers that summer being fascinated with "all the things (the blacksmith) could do with hot metal and regular hand tools."
The blacksmith made horseshoes, and Mason remembers stepping on hot horseshoe tips with his bare feet after then landed in the dirt.
But after that summer, the now 74-year-old left blacksmithing behind to move on with his life and serve two years in the Army. In 1973, after spending 20 years in Florida working for a phone company, he moved his wife and five children to Lawrence, where he worked at General Telephone for more than 20 years. He retired in 1994.
Mason became interested in blacksmithing again in 1996 after seeing a building raising by Tillers International and learning that the organization offered blacksmtihing classes. He soon enrolled in a weekend-long blacksmithing class with the organization, at 10515 East OP Ave. in Scotts, to return to the hobby that he enjoyed as a child.
Tillers International is a non-profit organization that focuses on teaching traditional, low-cost farming practices, including using horses and oxen to cultivate land.
Now, Mason volunteers with Tillers International weekly and demonstrates his blacksmithing skills at the Van Buren County Historical Society Museum every May and August.
"It's the enjoyment of showing people what you can do with metal in general," he said.
Although some say blacksmithing is a dying art, from Mason's experience, he thinks it's coming back.
Mason said his wife, Pat, is an "inspiring force" behind his blacksmithing art. She joined him in blacksmithing in 1998.
The most enjoyment from the job is "to hear the oohs and ahhs of the kids when they see the hot metal coming out of the fire," he said.
But the worst part, he said, is getting burnt.
"And that happens," he laughed.
Sewell's Classes
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