This weekend at Shake Rag Alley is the 14th Annual Woodlanders Gathering — the event that got Shake Rag started in the first place. (See The Story of the Woodlanders Gathering, from 2013).

The traditional Woodlanders classes involve twigs and wood, but over the years the offerings have expanded into other nature-based media to include everything from blacksmithing, jewelry-making, mosaics, and this year there is even soda pop making.

Starting this Thursday, and continuing through Sunday there are more than 40 workshops scheduled. Woodlanders is a little different than most Shake Rag classes in that you sign up for a full-day, select one or two classes per day, and stay for meals and whatever fun communal activity is scheduled for that day, like Saturday evening’s mini-boat race and bonfire.

Click below to check out the line-up for each day and to see what classes still have spaces available.

• Thursday
• Friday
• Saturday
• Sunday

You can sign up for one, two, three, or all four days to really lose yourself in the transformative experience known as the Woodlanders Gathering.

And, let’s face it, in the event of a major disaster, you’ll be glad that you learned in advance how to create twig furniture, handles for utensils, and soda pop out of leaves.

– Contributed by Lisa Hay