Honoral Company of Horners 2026 Annual Meeting

 

Honorable Company of Horners

30th Anniversary Horn Fair and Annual Meeting

March 13-14, 2026

 Altoona Grand Hotel in Altoona, PA

Deadlines:

• Friday, March 6^th to receive the discounted room Rate
• Monday, March 2^nd for Banquet Reservations – If you need to request a gluten free meal, please note that on your registration form.
• Monday, March 2^nd for Display/Sales Table Reservations – available on a first come first served basis.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at: Archer-59@comcast.net or call or text 717-880-6322.

2023 Honourable Company of Horners Show

Early American craftsmanship on display at the Altoona Grand Hotel
March 10-11, 2023

For over twenty-five years, the Honorable Company of Horners has dedicated countless hours to the preservation, research and education of the often forgotten skill of horn-working. What’s horn-working you ask? Well, you’re not alone in your quandary! For as long as history has been recorded, animal horn has been a material with many interesting uses. As a natural thermoplastic, it can be heated and pressed or molded into many useful shapes and our early American forefathers took advantage of these uses!

The Honorable Company of Horners, or HCH, has gone back in time through research and study of original, handmade items and historical documentation to learn the secrets of how horn can be used to make many different and sometimes surprising items.

Since their formation in 1996, the nationwide group has met yearly (except 2021) to come together and share knowledge and discoveries as well as to showcase their learned skills in creating these fascinating tools of the past. The public is always welcome to attend these “Horn Fairs” at no cost and this year in no different! For anyone who is interested in this event, the HCH would like to extend a warm welcome to come and see all of the things they have to offer. From “hands on” workshops and educational seminars to original and contemporary items to view and purchase, there’s something for everyone.

25th Honourable Company of Horners

  

HCH 25th Anniversary Horner’s Conference 

March 4-5, 2022

 The Altoona Grand Hotel

1 Sheraton Drive, Altoona, PA 16601

For more information click here.

Honourable Company of Horners 2009 Show: Photos

These photos are of Bruce Horne's table at the 2009 HCH Show at Norris, TN.

Some of these items will be for sale shortly.

Photography by Jan Riser.

Honourable Company of Horners 25th Anniversary Raffle

 25th Anniversary Raffle

This raffle is available to Anyone participating. You do not have to be present to win.

A Special Commemorative Serving Platter

by Pennsylvania Redware Potter

SELINDA KENNEDY

In Recognition of

The Honourable Company of Horners 25th Anniversary

In recognition of The Honourable Company of Horners’ 25th Anniversary (1997-2021), Selinda Kennedy has designed and handmade a serving platter to celebrate this special occasion.

The platter is 18” tall by 15” wide and features elements of figures and patterns that can be found on various original powder horns of the 17^th and 18^th centuries.  It also features a phrase credited to St. Francis of Assisi that epitomizes the spirit of the artisan.  “He who works with his hands is a laborer – He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman – He who works with his hand, his head, and his heart is an artist.”  At the center of the platter is an oval featuring the HCH logo with the annotation “25th Anniversary 2021” at its base.  This is indeed a special work of art by Selinda Kennedy and commissioned by the HCH in recognition of the Guild’s founding.

The platter will be raffled off with the drawing taking place during the Guild’s Annual Horn Fair at the Grand Hotel in Altoona, Pennsylvania on March 5th ,2022.  The funds generated from this raffle will go to help offset the Guild’s 25th Anniversary Horn Fair costs. The price for the tickets is 5 dollars for one or 20 dollars for five. Please download, fill-out and mail the tickets to Eric Borneman; his address is on the tickets. http://www.hornguild.org/raffles/25th-anniversary-raffle/

Please note that there will be no registration charge for those attending!  As in past years, all NMLRA members, spouses and friends are welcomed to attend free of charge as guests of the Guild.  This invitation is due to the strong bond that has developed over the years between the NMLRA and the HCH and the devotion of the two organizations to the Longrifle Culture.

To view more of Selinda’s redware pottery, please go to her Facebook site at:  facebook.com/kennedyredware.  She can also be contacted by phone at (570) 546-6695 or via email at:  selindakenndy1@gmail.com.

http://www.hornguild.org/raffles/25th-anniversary-raffle/

25th Honourable Company of Horners

 
HCH 25th Anniversary Horner’s Conference 

March 4-5, 2022

 The Altoona Grand Hotel

1 Sheraton Drive, Altoona, PA 16601

To reserve a room, just call the main number (814-946-1631) and request to be in the “HCH” block. Rooms reserved for Thursday, March, 3rd through Sunday, March 6^th will be at a discounted rate of $85/per night. There are plenty of restaurant choices within walking distance and even more with a short drive. I‘ve been assured their food is top notch, so I’m really looking forward to the banquet! There will also be a cash bar and appetizers at the mixer before dinner.

There’s plenty of room for display tables and demonstrating stations, so sign up today if you’d like a table. 

Go to HHC here for link to info for show.

24th Annual Horn Fair

Always planned for the first full weekend in March, the Horn Fair starts off the new year right. March 6-7, 2020 will be no exception as the 24th Annual Horn Fair plans are well under way.

Once again there will be no conference registration fee so that all Guild members, along with the general public, can come and join in on the fun. We especially welcome our friends in the NMLRA and hope many of them will be able to join us! The Guild’s Meetings Committee and Executive Committee have been pulling plans together and this looks to be another great event!

Currently, major activities include:

• Interactive work stations manned by Journeyman and Master horners focusing on the “Back to Basics” theme.
• Freeman Jerry Polizzi will have the Guild’s spring pole lathe set up for demonstration and first time users are encouraged to try out this amazing piece of equipment.The Awards Committee will again be overseeing a horn competition for HCH members who would like to enter their horn item in one of the following categories: Engraved Horn- Traditional, Engraved Horn- Contemporary, Unengraved Horn, Horn Item and Bag and Horn Set.
• This year’s Educational Theme is the Powder Flask.
• Two seminars will be given: Friday (1:30 PM) Making the Scottish Horn Mull by Clint Byers, Journeyman and Saturday (10:00 AM) The European Powder Flask by Carl Dumke, Master Horner.
• Guildmaster Carl Dumke will be offering another Guildmaster’s Challenge. The rules remain the same as last year.
• Representatives from the NMLRA will again be given a display table so they can answer questions, sign up members or you can stop and see what’s new with their group.
• There will be two fundraising events throughout the weekend, including a raffle and an auction.
• 2020’s 1 of 1000 Powder Horn is being made by Walter Mabry, Master Horner. The horn will be on display for the weekend and presented to the NMLRA representative Saturday evening during the banquet.
• All Guild members are encouraged to purchase a table in the display room to sell horn related items or simply to have an educational exhibit. Price is minimal at only $20 for an 8 foot table!

Registration form, schedule and more information can be found here.

Copy from the HCH site.

HCH 2020 Auction Horn

Length is 14 inches.  It sports an engrailed edge followed by a 5 inch round to octagonal throat with 2 large and three small wedding bands.  The butt plug is 3 inch turned Walnut, and has a turned horn stopper.  Inscriptions include: The Honourable Company of Horner's, 24th Anniversary 1996 - 2020.  

Carvings include:  F & I War Fort Augusta, small township, British Royal Seal, hunter shooting at birds, Smoking frog, Hellhorse, Frightened Moon & Star, geometric design on bottom with cross, dove, humming bird, flowers and butterfly. HCH cartouche and maker's cartouche. 

Accompanying this horn is a very nice custom Kris Polizzi horn strap.

This horn will be auctioned off during the 24th annual HCH Horn Fair from Thursday, March 5th thru Saturday March 7th, to be held at the U.S.Army Heritage & Education Center, Carlisle, Pennsylvania.   The auction for this horn will be held during the Saturday night banquet in the Exhibit Hall.  Activities include: Interactive work stations manned by Journeyman & Master Hornsmiths, & Seminars, This year's Presentation of the 1 of 1000 Powder Horn to be presented to the NMLRA representative, and demonstrations of the Guild's spring pole lathe, Two informative seminars and the Saturday night banquet & auction.  

Copy and photographs supplied by Kevin Hart.

2018 HCH Auction

I am very pleased to announce the items for the 2018 HCH Annual Meeting Auction are donated by dedicated members of the West Coast Horn and Accouterment Fair.
The second and live portion of the auction will be at the banquet on Saturday, March 3, 2018 during the annual meeting. If you are unable to attend, you can put in a pre-auction bid at the bottom of the page.  (We do not have the means to offer online bidding during the banquet portion of the auction.) And yes!, people have won using the online form below. 

From Friend of the Guild, Steve Skillman(Yelm, WA), we have two sets of sewing and weaving related items. The first set is sewing items including an Etui (needle case) including a horn needle, a pincushion, and a tortoise button box.

The second set made by Steve Skillman is made up from weaving items including a lucet and a shuttle. Also included in each set is a ring holder – just for the fun of it. Every item is made of horn and is beautifully done.

From Freeman Horner Dave Rase (Bremerton, WA) comes a fun “what if ?” item. It’s a 10 to 70 grain adjustable powder measure that is meant to appear as the result of re-purposing a screw tip from a lost or broken Philadelphia screw tipped horn. The tip is turned from a single piece of horn. The adjustment rod and furniture pull finial are hand made from brass round stock with a steel lanyard loop. An internal leather washer is used to keep the measure from moving after setting the size of the charge to be thrown. The markings on the 3/16” diameter adjustment shaft are set in 10g increments.

Journeyman Horner Scott Morrison (Keizer, OR) has made a horn with Virginia elements. The applied tip is turned from American Bison (Buffalo) and secured to the horn with wood pegs. The finial is threaded with the top piece turned from bison and the bottom threaded portion hickory. The butt is turned walnut and secured to the horn with iron tacks.

Next we have a beautiful French & Indian War horn by Freeman Kevin Hart (Hillsboro, OR). The horn is roughly 14 inches in length with an engrailed edge followed by a 2 1/4 inch throat and short turned deer antler tip & peg. The carvings and inscriptions are cut at different depths to show dimension and include plants and flowers along top and bottom borders, various birds sitting on bushes, a large compass and the Sun and Moon. The inscriptions read as follows:

I Powder with My Brother Ball, A Hero Like, Do Conquer All / dated 1769 / has an area for the owner’s name and His Horn.

And last, but certainly not least, is a horn by beloved friend and strong supporter of the Guild, Journeyman Horner Glenn Sutt, who passed away in February 2017, and is greatly missed. Glenn had been very excited about this auction and was happy to participate. Since Glenn is not here to give a description of this horn, I’ve asked his friend, fellow horner and Tansel expert Art DeCamp for details.

 “The horn itself was made by Glenn and is a careful replication of Tim Tansel type work, including Glenn’s use of specific construction details used by Tim Tansel. The spout end is shaped in typical Tansel fashion with a rounded bead at the very end and a raised ring about 1-1/2” back on the throat of the horn for strap retention. The cherry wood butt was copied from an original Tim Tansel horn owned by Glenn. Its lathe-turned domed shape with incised carved decoration is typical of several known horns. In addition, Glenn used copper to fabricate the round ring for strap attachment, and the staple that holds the ring in the butt end of the horn, just as Tim Tansel did on Glenn’s original.”

This horn is graced by a beautiful beaded strap by Gary Bertelsen. Our thanks to Glenn’s family, for graciously allowing us to have this horn for our auction. The auction will run similarly to last year’s with the live auction held at the banquet Saturday night. If you are unable to attend the meeting and would like to bid on an item, look at the bottom.

Here is the link to place a bid: http://www.hornguild.org/upcoming-events/2018-annual-meeting-at-the-ahec/2018-hch-auction/

Personally, I am very excited by this new focus on small groups within the Guild- it’s all about connection! If your group would like to participate or have any questions, please feel free to contact me at polizzifam@netzero.net. And don’t forget, all members can request a copy of the Guild roster to see if any other members are in their area!

See you at the AHEC,
Kris Polizzi

Copy and photos supplied by Kris Polizzi.

Honourable Company of Horners 2018 Show

March 2-3, 2018

Guild’s Annual Horn Fair

U.S. Army Heritage and Education Center (USAHEC)

Carlisle, Pennsylvania

The public is invited to view the exhibits 12:00 noon on Friday to 5:00 PM and then on Saturday  9:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

The Nominating Committee has nominated the following slate of officers for membership vote at the business meeting Friday morning: Guildmaster – Carl Dumke, Guildmaster Elect – John DeWald, Secretary – Jim Steel, Treasurer – Art DeCamp.

The ever popular Interactive Horn Workshop will have several work stations manned by Journeymen and Masters demonstrating all facets of horn work. This innovative activity allows each person to converse directly with the Masters / Journeymen on those horn working aspects of interest to you.

Two Master’s seminars are currently scheduled with Rex Reddick giving his presentation on Friday and Ed long on Saturday. In addition, Roland Cadle will present a seminar on The Enigma of the Effigy Combs. 

Journeyman and Past Guildmaster Dick Toone will be demonstrating the use of the Guild’s spring pole lathe.

Once again NMLRA representatives will have a display table, courtesy of the HCH, to sign up new members, provide assistance and answer questions.

Journeyman Clinton Byers is making the 2018, 1 of 1000 Powder Horn for the NMLRA. It will be on display at the NMLRA’s table and officially presented to the NMLRA during Saturday evening’s banquet.

The Awards Committee will conduct the judging Saturday afternoon for the horn competition and those seeking advancement to Journeyman.

The culmination of the Annual Meeting will occur with the banquet on Saturday night. There will be a social gathering from 5:30 to 6:00 followed by a supper meal, key announcements and musical entertainment.

Following the meal you can relax, enjoy a cup of coffee or glass of wine, and take in the always entertaining program which includes: the 1 of 1000 Powder Horn presentation to the NMLRA, Kiselica Award winner, announcement of the horn competition awards, and the auction of the West Coast Horn and Accoutrement items by Kris Polizzi. A musical program will be provided by Nathan (Bucky) Blauch.

To make early reservations, lodging arrangements have been made at Days Inn Carlisle, 101 Alexander Spring Road, Carlisle, PA 17015

The registration deadline is February 19, 2017.

If you have any questions concerning our annual meeting, please contact Ed Long at (610) 554-3930/e-mail: spiritof76@ptd.net or Art DeCamp at (814) 643-6343/email: ajdecamp@verizon.net.

http://www.hornguild.org/upcoming-events/2018-annual-meeting-at-the-ahec/

Honourable Company of Horners 2017 Auction

The Honourable Company of Horners is proud to present the items that will be auctioned off at this year's Annual Meeting

Piedmont North Carolina Horn and Pouch with Accoutrements
Here is a Piedmont North Carolina set with a fringed pouch by Jeff Bibb of Monroe, VA paired with a banded horn by Billy Griner of Woodbine, GA. Ray Antosh of Burke, VA created a pick, brush and measure in a complimentary style. The set is completed with a beautiful, hand-forged knife by Bill Bisher of Black Turtle Forge in Denton, NC 

Queen Anne Flask
Most Queen Anne flasks were made from green or amber colored translucent horn. Journeyman Horner Don Fererro of Sanford, NC has made a stunning flask from black horn accented with a piece of unusual zebra colored horn.

Two Leather Covered Costrels
Journeyman Horner Jim Leach of Williamsburg, VA has made two costrels. They are bottles covered in tooled leather. The larger comes with a braided cord and the smaller one is designed for carrying in a pouch or pocket.

1760 French and Indian War Powder Horn
Here is a joint project for the 2017 auction by Journeyman Horners Bill Carter and Rick Sheets. It is a 1760 lobed horn made in the style of those horns created during the F&I War. Bill made the horn and Rick did the engraving.

Scottish Style Horn Beakers
Journeyman Horner Clinton Byers of Lenior, NC has created a brace of Scottish horn beakers that are nearly identical. He started out with a pair of honey colored cow horns. The beakers are accented with homemade walnut dye.

Custom Earrings
Master Horner John Kiselica of Bethel Park, PA has designed and made this custom pair of sterling silver and horn earrings.

Anyone interested in further information or would like to place a bid on an item, is encouraged to follow this link to the fund raising information on our web site: http://www.hornguild.org/category/raffles/  

The Honourable Company of Horners 20th Anniversary "Auction of the Masters"

The Honourable Company of Horners 20th Anniversary "Auction of the Masters" will take place during the HCH's 20th Annual Meeting on March 4-5, 2016. Anyone interested in more information, or who would like to place a bid, can go to the HCH website http://www.hornguild.org/masters-auction/

 

Item #1 - Master Horner Joe Becker- Reynoldsville, PA

Item #2 - Master Horner Roland Cadle - Hollidaysburg, PA

Item #3 - Master Horner Art DeCamp - Huntingdon, PA

Item #4 - Master Horner Carl Dumke - Centerville, OH

Item #5 - Master Horner Willy Frankfort - Finleyville, PA

Item #6 - Master Horner John Kiselica - Bethel Park, PA

Item #7 - Master Horner Lee Larkin - Cedar Park, TX

Item #8 - Master Horner John Proud - Cortland, NY

Item # 9 - Master Horner Irv Tschanz - Rochester, NY

Copy and photos supplied by Kris Polizzi, HCH Fundraising Chair.

2014 Dixon’s Raffle AKA The HCH Summer Raffle

We have another excellent showing of work by members of the Hounourable Company of Horners. We'll start with the “Horn and Bag set”. This year we have a most spectacular pairing of a horn by Journeyman, John DeWald of Pennsdale, PA and a bag by Journeyman, Frank Willis of Emmaus, Pa. Let me just say, the pictures do not do this set justice! I am confident if you are able to see this set in person, it will amaze you!

John and Frank decided to go with a “high art” bag and horn set with a strong Pennsylvania Dutch influence. John's horn, with a double tulip shaped spout, chip-carved cherry base plug, is covered with intricate designs such as hexes and fraktur floral work and a fraktur angel. The opposite side carries the phrase, "Moge Got die Hochste Uhr Uber Dir", meaning "May God the Highest Watch Over Thee." The polychrome coloring and aging techniques compliment the bag perfectly. The woven strap is by Kris Polizzi of Elizabethtown, PA.

The bag is based on an original fowler bag owned by Tom Ames. It has a complex design comprised lacing and a PA Dutch circular pattern with piercings. Added to this is the use of colored thread, leather covered rings, gussets and borders. It's lined with a coarse weave linen fabric.

The set is also graced by a beautiful engraved and poly-chromed horn on horn vent pick by Journeyman, Spark Mumma of Jonestown, PA and a turned horn measure and brush with hand made chain by Jerry Polizzi of Elizabethtown, PA.

As we have done in the past, we are happy to be able to have additional items to be raffled off. The first is a beautiful moose hair embroidered pouch by Sue DeLille of Wilkesville, OH. We also have a super acrylic wampum beaded strap, graciously donated by Paul DesRosiers of Gastonia, NC.

 

These amazing prizes will all be on display at the Guild table at The Gunmaker's Fair, where tickets will be on sale for $5 each or 5 for $20. Those who cannot make the fair can join in on the fun by downloading tickets off the Guild's web site at www.hornguild.org. 

Tickets and money can be sent to Treasurer, 
Art DeCamp 
2210 Acorn Circle 
Huntingdon, PA 16652

Copy and photos supplied by The Honourable Company of Horners.