DIXFIELD – With a split-second crack of the whip, Bill Rubino cut 2 inches off the 12-inch piece of dried linguine held in the mouth of his partner, Cristy Cooke. And with another loud snap, the linguine was shortened by another 2 inches.
Rubino and Cooke are the founders of Whip Enthusiasts of Maine, a nonprofit organization that meets every other Sunday afternoon at the Countryfolk Music Theatre in East Dixfield to practice the fine art of whip cracking, a talent many think of as purely a Western phenomenon.
But it’s not.
Rubino of Greene, who is a building supply salesman by day, and Cooke of Lewiston, who is a Tri-County Mental Health worker, started the Maine group only a few weeks ago.
Already, they have nearly 20 members.
Rubino, who also goes by the stage name of Bill Greene and is also a member of the New England Whip Enthusiasts, has been working with whips for about five years.
“It takes a lot of concentration and it relaxes me. I originally got into it for a shoulder muscle problem after no therapies helped. This did, and I’ve been doing it ever since,” he said.
Although he and Cooke own more than 100 various kinds of whips, Rubino likes the bull whip the best, particularly one that is made of kangaroo or buckskin.
“It’s an American thing with its 8-inch handle. It can be any length,” he said, adding that the bull whip is popular in many competitions.
Whips comes in all sorts of materials, such as buckskin, kangaroo skin, nylon and cowhide, although the Enthusiasts don’t think much of nylon.
Nylon is the cheapest, at about $10 to $20 a foot, but it doesn’t have the same snap and feel as leather.
Whip Enthusiasts can spend hundreds of dollars on a whip, with kangaroo skin the most expensive at $50 a foot, cowhide at about $25, and buckskin at $35. Leather whips will last forever, Rubino said.
They also come in many lengths, from short 4-foot whips for mushing sled dogs, called a signal whip, to 20-foot-long bull whips.
On Sunday afternoon, June 25, at the Countryfolk Music Theatre in East Dixfield, Rubino and Cooke were joined by other enthusiasts, like Bill Hale of Freeport who operates a free open-whip night and Bob Rice of Sweden, a historical re-enactor who just recently returned to whip cracking.
Neophytes were also taking a chance with the leather devices for the first time.
Liz Blood of East Dixfield was trying it out for the first time. After a half-hour or so, she produced her first “crack.”
“It’s a real challenge,” she said.
Rice, who is also a member of the National Muzzle Loading Association and the National Rendezvous Living History Association, specializes in pre-1840 artifacts. He makes tents, haversacks, equipment bags for sword fighters and historical apparel for reenactments. Taking up the whip again fits right into his occupation, he said.
And Hale, a whip cracker for four years, likes the instantaneous rush of the cause and effect of cracking the whip.
Margaret Arsenault of Andover plays guitar for the country-western group Roped and Branded. She took up the whip about a year ago.
“I used to see it on television as a kid, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, and I always wanted to do it. It’s a fascination, just like calf-roping,” she said.
Larry Bisbee, owner of Countryfolk, said Rubino and Cooke came to his open music jam fest last year as part of a Wild West Weekend he hosted. The two proved so popular that they will be at the site every other Sunday all afternoon until Labor Day. He’s a member of the Maine Whipcracker Enthusiasts, too, and uses his skills when he participates in re-enactments out West during the winter months.
With no competitions in New England yet, Rubino hopes to develop a venue for performing. He also hopes to get to Dallas for one of that city’s competitions.
In the meantime, he practices when he can and teaches anyone who wants to learn how to crack a whip.
The Whip Enthusiasts of Maine is affiliated with the national Whip Enthusiasts. There are no dues. Those who turn out for a chance to test their skills each weekend in East Dixfield don’t even have to own a whip. Rubino and Cooke will lend them one when they teach the craft.
“It’s all for the love of the sport,” he said.
Anyone interested in joining or who wants more information may contact Rubino at 740-1333 or [email protected], or Cooke at [email protected] or 740-4033.
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