Pioneer-craft workshops will be conducted at RAVENOAK, McRaven's home near Charlottesville in the eastern foothills of the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.
Charles McRaven teaches workshop all over the country. The Ravenoak Workshops annual series is conducted on his property. Workshops focus on pioneering homesteading skills: hewn log construction, stonework, post&beam, and blacksmithing. His workshops have included skills such as split-rail fencing, shake splitting, basic carpentry, pole barn

construction, standing-seam metal roofing, writing and photography.      Workshops focus on both time-honored practices and use of tools, such as the adze and broadaxe, and of new technology such as motorized hoists and chainsaws. All instruction is geared to the experience level of each group, so that novices need not feel out of their depth. Each class affords enough challenges for the more advanced students or professionals seeking to hone their skills. National Park Service restoration crews use these classes as brush-up courses.
	The cost of all 5-day workshops is $750. This includes hands-on instruction, review of resources, lunches, morning coffee, snacks, and use of the in-ground pool in summer. Breakfast and evening meals are not included in this cost. Accomodations are provided at extra cost, as detailed below.      Workshops run from Monday through Friday (unless otherwise noted), departing Friday evening. Guests should arrive 6pm the Sunday preceding the workshop, prepared to enjoy the challenge.

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Tentative 2009 Dates All Workshops have a base price of $750.
Log Workshop:	April 20-24, July 13-17
Stone Workshop:	June 22-26, September 7-11
Post-and-Beam Workshop:	Contact if interested
Blacksmithing Workshop:	October 26-30 October 24-November 21 (Saturdays only)
Contact McRaven for other dates that you would want for a workshop or a group would want to stage one. If you want to tailor one to your interests or needs such as split-rail fencing or advanced stonework, please contact McRaven to discuss your ideas.      Accomodations: Motel accomodations are available in Charlottesville or Ruckersville. Contact McRaven for recommendations of motels with a good breakfast plan.      Mcraven has an air-conditioned log cabin on premises which can be used at $40 per person per night. It has 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, kitchen, TV/DVD, laundry room, fireplace, and is fully furnished. Participants can cook or go to town for meals. This cabin becomes the social hub for the participants and fills quickly. If you want to stay in the log cabin, let us know right away.      Camping on premises costs $15 per night per person and includes the use of the log cabin for bathroom facilities, kitchen, and socializing. Bring your own linens and towels, but all kitchen ware is supplied.      McRaven teaches workshops on behalf of other organizations on their premises. These workshops work best with 6 to 20 participants and can be tailored for either the amateur (as an event for the public) or brush-up workshops for the professional such as for National Park Service employees who maintain the Parks). If your organization is interested in having McRaven conduct any workshops teaching pioneer skills, please contact him with your proposal.

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PO Box 108 Free Union, Virginia 22940 (near Charlottesville) | Phone:(434)973-4859 | Fax: (434)978-4272