SPCA Fundraiser on May 24

SPCA Shelter Manager Heidi Mackowski (left) and SPCA Board Member Lori Burkhouse inspect a hand-carved walking stick by Ken Hannold and a brown-ash pack basket by Dave Mackowski. Both items will be raffled off at a spaghetti dinner fund-raiser on May 24 at the Masonic Lodge in Bradford.
(Photo Courtesy of the SPCA)

The McKean County SPCA's latest fund-raiser is showcasing the hand-crafted work of a pair of folk artists with local ties.

The SPCA will host a will host a spaghetti dinner on Saturday, May 24 starting at 3:00 p.m. and running through 7:00 p.m. at the Masonic Lodge, 625 South Avenue in Bradford.

In conjunction with the event, the SPCA is offering chances of a number of prizes, including a hand-carved walking stick by Ken Hannold of Bradford and a brown-ash pack basket woven by Bradford native Dave Mackowski of Milford, Maine.

A similar style of pack basket, woven by Mackowski exclusively for Orivs Outfitters, retails for $900.

"It's really a rare treat to be able to offer something that's heirloom-quality like this," says Heidi Mackowski, manager of the SPCA and Dave Mackowski's daughter-in-law. "Pack baskets are one of the great old-time traditions of outdoorsman everywhere, but very few people still weave them. It's an artform that's disappearing."

Dave Mackowski first began weaving pack baskets more than a decade and a half ago, traveling across New England, the Adirondacks, and Minnesota to learn the craft. "I've learned from some legendary old-timers and from Native American craftsmen who've had their traditions passed down for generations," he says.

Mackowski makes eight styles of pack baskets. He has also weaves fishing creels and has learned to make several styles of snowshoes. His snowshoe collection is considered one of the most extensive in the world and has attracted acclaim from the Smithsonian Institute.

Hannold, too, has attracted a great deal of attention for his hand-carved walking sticks, Heidi Mackowski says. "The walking stick we have has a top painted black and is shaped like a Labrador retriever," she says. "It also has ornate design work carved along the shaft."

Hannold began his carving about two years ago. He spends upwards of fourteen hours on each stick, which retails for around $100. He also makes deer-horn lamps, carves cuckoo clocks and does carvings on gun barrels.

Other prizes available at the spaghetti dinner include a knife set from Cutco, items donated by Zippo and ARG, and gift baskets from several local gift shops. All proceeds from the raffles and the spaghetti dinner will benefit the McKean County SPCA.