The Teachers' Branch

When the first rug school of the Rug Hooking Guild of Nova Scotia was held at Universite St. Anne in 1980 all the teachers were from Ontario. One of these teachers was Ted Rowan of Ritteremere Craft Studios in Vineland, Ontario. He tried to impress upon us that we shouldn’t let our unique hooking style be changed by teachers “from away”.

So – early in the 1980’s it was decided to form a Teachers’ Branch of the Rug Hooking Guild of Nova Scotia. Among those first members were Muriel Peveril, Joyce Everitt, Mary Saunders, Sylvia MacDonald, and Doris Wentzell. The group met regularly at each other’s homes to design and hook patterns which could be taught at week-end workshops to Guild members. Two workshops were held each year – one in conjunction with the Guild Annual Meeting. For the other workshop teachers would travel to the districts that requested the workshop. Other teachers were brought in, such as Joan Boyle (who taught design) and Jean Gardiner who gave us tips on teaching rug hooking, to instruct the new teachers.

The Branch continued slowly for several years before new would-be teachers joined. Soon a few of the Branch’s members were teaching at rug school. And so from this humble beginning grew the large, competent Teachers Branch of the Guild which is in existence today.