After a 13-hour drive to Kentucky, Rocky Slaymaker had a blue ribbon in the annual Dry Stone Walling Competition and Luke Koch had his first experience in the competition.
Slaymaker and Koch, both area residents, left at 4 a.m. Sept. 13 and made the 13-hour drive to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill in Mercer County, Ky. It was the fourth annual competition hosted by the Dry Stone Conservancy, a group formed “to advance dry stone masonry craft; promote heritage tourism; and develop a national center for training and expertise.”
This year’s competition was held at the Shaker Village, which is located 25 miles southwest of Lexington, Ky.
“The Shakers were 19th Century America’s largest and best-known communal society,” according to www.shakervillageky.org. “In 1774, nine devout Shakers sailed from Liverpool, England to New York City to escape religious prosecution...”
Today, the Shaker Village sits on 3,000 acres and includes various attractions, including a sprawling dry stone wall, which is where the National Dry Stone Walling Competition comes into the picture. Slaymaker and Koch were entered into the professional category. There also was an amateur category. In the professional category, competitors were given eight hours to tear down and re-build a six-foot section of the stone wall. The fence was double-sided and about four feet tall.
“They sound the horn at the beginning and you break for lunch for a half hour,” Slaymaker said. “We were working until the horn at the end. There’s no time for breaks.”
Competitors were graded on several different areas including the quality of the work. Slaymaker said he took first place for his foundation out of all 39 competitors.
“Which is just very cool,” he said, adding that he was disappointed in his overall wall, but to win for the foundation was gratifying. For his first place, Slaymaker received a trophy, ribbon, shovel and sledge hammer.
Slaymaker’s first two years competing also netted awards. He took a first place his first year in the amateur competition and second place his second year in amateur.
Slaymaker complimented Koch on his work.
“Luke’s wall was better than my wall! And I told him that,” Slaymaker said, with a laugh, adding that Koch placed about the middle of the pack. “Luke, I think, did very, very well.”
Slaymaker said the competition poses challenges for people who are not used to the area.
“The rock is so different than it is here,” he said. “It’s really almost rubble. It’s very rough. Very hard. It’s a whole different game than what (we) build here.”
Slaymaker added that the Village has 10 miles of standing fence on the property.
“It’s the largest privately owned amount of fence in the United States,” he said. “All their walls were originally built between 1820 and 1834.”