Dear Sun Spots: The Western Maine Blacksmith Association is seeking a stand-alone, hand-cranked, forge blower for our demonstration trailer. We are willing to buy one for a reasonable price or would love to have one donated. Please phone 645-2261 if you have one you’d be willing to sell or share with us. Or, if you have any leads on where we might locate one, we would appreciate those. Thanks for all your help. – No Name, No Town.

Answer:
In addition to responses from readers, Sun Spots located a wonderful history on the association and hopes readers out there will be equally as intrigued:

The association was founded in 2002 and is dedicated to preserving, advancing, enriching and encouraging the art of blacksmithing and metal working. The purpose of the Western Maine Blacksmith association is to educate and promote blacksmithing as an art. The association is involved in the exchange of knowledge, both in educating as well as being educated. Anyone with an interest in blacksmithing is invited to become a member. Monthly meetings are held the first Tuesday of the month at the Wilton Historical Society at 7 p.m. Most meetings are followed by a show-and-tell session downstairs in the forge room. For more information, phone 639-2876 or 645-2261. Members include several full-time blacksmiths as well as many novices and those in-between.

In addition, you might also consider contacting Centaur Forge, www.centaurforge.com, 117 N. Spring St., Burlington, WI 53105, 800-666-9175, 262-763-9175 or via e-mail at info@centaurforge.com.

Dear Sun Spots: On Jan. 8, 2007, my family and I were on a flight from Denver to Salt Lake City. My two daughters were playing with a 2-year-old boy, who was sitting a few rows ahead with his mother. They spoke with the woman when we arrived at the airport and the little boy gave them a hug goodbye. They claim that the woman was Picabo Street and wish that they had had the courage to ask her. Do you know where she is living now? Does she have a son? Is there a way that they can contact her? Thanks for your help – Kathy, No Town.

Answer:
According to Park City Mountain Resort, (Park City Mountain Resort, 1310 Lowell Ave., Park City, UT 84060, 435-649-8111, www.parkcitymountain.com) Street serves as their ski ambassador. The site also notes that Street is the second of two children born to Stubby and Dee Street on a small farm in Triumph, Idaho, on April 3, 1971. They initially just called her “Baby Girl,” and eventually settled on “Picabo” after a town in Idaho meaning shining waters. At age 16, she was on the U.S. Olympic team and won the junior downhill and Super G titles. One year later, she became the only American skier to ever win a World Cup downhill championship crown. In 1996, Street tore the ligaments in her knee and needed reconstructive surgery. Then, during a World Cup downhill race two years later, she slammed into a fence while going 70 mph. She broke her left leg in nine different places. She was almost 28, and was not going to give up on competitive racing. After two years of rehab, she worked her way back into racing and finished fifth at a World Cup downhill in Switzerland. From there she went to the Nagano Olympics and won a gold medal in the downhill competition. Picabo retired from competitive skiing after the 2002 Olympics and has remained a supportive presence for the next generation of competitive skiers.

You may be interested in noting that a posting online at Panasonic USA dated Feb. 10, 2006, notes a posting by Picabo Street in which she references her son. Another published in The Wood River Journal in Hailey, Idaho, dated Jan. 19, 2006, reported that Street was married with a then 16-month-old son, name Trajee. The ages would appear to fit.

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