Jim Witte is a local resident of the Auburn, Alabama area, and a part time Blacksmith. The Auburn Plainsmen noticed him, and decided to do a short write up about him. He sounds like decent bloke and I'm always glad to see some positive press like this out there.

TriCities.com is running a lengthy and in depth piece about Greg Shaffer, a professional smith in Bristol Virginia. Shaffer runs Three Springs Forge & Iron Works. The article is a good read, and worth the time to check it out.

According to the Post and Courier the Mall park in Charleston, South Carolina will be renamed the Philip Simmons Mall Playground. The renaming will happen at 2 p.m. Saturday. The park is located at the corner of Columbus and America streets and is surrounded by work of Mr. Simmons.

American Profile is running a great piece about Darold Rinedollar, a blacksmith in the Wisconsin area. It's a good article and has some great images with it. It talks about Darold's work at the Old World Wisconsin living history museum and his introduction to blacksmithing. Definitely worth a read.

Martin Hayday, who has been the resident blacksmith at Barleylands Farms for ten years, recently found himself under the spot light when he was visited by Laurence Llewelyn Bowen. Bowen's visit to Barleylands Farms generated a number of pieces in the press.

Ross Brown is a professional smith, and is garnering some press coverage these days. He decided to advertise his services by forging outside, where passers by can watch, and cars whizzing past can see. He sets up a mobile trailer in busy areas, and he caught the attention of the media. The JC Online of West Lafeyette, Indiana is covering his unusual display.

The New England Shool of Metalwork has announced their 2010 summer session. The classes sound great. If you are in the Maine area I'd suggest checking them out! The classes are listed below.

If you are in the Bradford, New Hampshire area on February 25th you might want to consider stopping by the Benz Center, at Heard Road, Center Sandwich, New Hampshire. A blacksmith from the Bradford area, Garry Kalajian, will be giving a talk, and showing slides of his work. A social hour of cocktails and hors d'oeuvres will be served before the presentation. You can view Garry's fine work at his website, araratforge.com. This event is being covered in the Citizen.

The Hexham Courant is running a piece that covers the life of Eric Liddle. Eric was a Master Farrier and a blacksmith for 50 years. He took over a blacksmith shop when he was 20, and lived and worked there for the rest of his life. A humorous anecdote about the man, although he shod thousands of horses, he never rode one.