Wish Me Luck~

I am spekaing in front of the Nelson Co. Historical Society today at 2:00

here's what I wrote, please let me know what you think?


Good afternoon.
First, let be begin by thanking you all for the invite to come today…I’m looking forward to becoming a part of the Nelson County Historical soc.
For those that don’t know me, my name is Lori Brechlin…My family first moved here to nelson. Co. in august of 2003...my husband peter, is a building inspector for the county, and our daughter Hannah is in her freshman year at nelson high school…
We live in the tye river area, and are restoring the Proffit homeplace…we raise sheep for wool which I use in many of my crafts…we have also added a needlework shop/studio on the property, where I teach classes for all types of needlework, and sell supplies…
Before moving to nelson co., we lived in Ct, where I was active with the Stratford Historical society, Guilford, hist. Soc. And the Dudley farm museum….my daughter & I would attend different functions, wearing our period clothing and demonstrate the art of rug hooking…I was then asked to teach rug hooking classes and thus began my career as a ‘hooker’….(I don’t mind being called a hooker, as long as you include the word ‘rug’ and say it with a smile) I formed a rug hooking group that met every Wednesday evening, and thr group still meets today….I began teaching girl scout troops, and was then asked to become a faculty member at the Guilford Handcraft center, where I taught the art of rug hooking to many….
from there, I began to design patterns for the rug hooking industry, which led to drawing illustrations for catalogs,and that led to the designing of cross stitch patterns and notecards…I now have two national distributors, many international distributors, and you can find my patterns and cards in finer needlework shops and country gift shops across the country…
….being raised in ct, I was surrounded by antiques, primitives and folk art…I knew that the historical homes that I was fortunate to visit held an almost magical sense for me, the way things were made…by hand, made to last and made with beauty and spirit….my love for folk art thus began at an early age…I was inspired to keep alive the handwork of the women before us.
I paint murals, design notecards, hook rugs, stitch samplers, and I delight in teaching others to do the same, to carry on the traditions of our foremothers…
Our shop is now welcoming more & more local women in for classes…we’ve begun to carry quilting fabrics … it has also become a place for us to gather to work on our handwork…like the ‘bees’ of yesteryear…I feel that by gathering together, we as women can be a strong support system for each other, while being creative for ourselves, families and homes…
When Becky Howard first contacted me about demonstrating at the Oakland museum for their Christmas open house, I was thrilled…I pulled out one of my ‘best’ dress costumes, readied my needle & thread, gathered my rugs & wool and set to work…it was a beautiful place to spend the afternoon, with lovely harp music, and tales of Christmas’ past…as I was sitting in the tavern room, surrounded by fresh pine decorations and a table laden with wonderful home baked goods, I glanced out the window and saw that it was beginning to softly snow…the room was warm & cozy, but it was the people I was in the room with that made me feel truly comfortable…people devoted to keeping the past alive for our future.
These past couple of years, since moving to nelson co., time constraints wouldn’t able me to be involved with any historical societies…and I missed that tremendously…recently, I vowed to make the time again, so I contacted Becky…and here I am.I’m looking forward to helping the Nelson Co. Hist. Soc preserve what they have and build a wonderful future…I’m looking forward to meeting you and sharing what each of us has to offer…I’m looking forward to the past…….

too much? too little?

ACK!

I'll be fine, i'll be fine, i'll be fine.
(as long as no one shows up!)