Hope Kiwanis Club Hears Program On James Black’S Bowie Heritage Festival From Jerry Fisk

By Mark Keith, 03/28/23 3:52 PM

The Hope Kiwanis Club heard a program from Dolly Henley and Jerry Fisk about the upcoming James Black’s Bowie Heritage Festival set for Washington April 21st and 22nd.  Fisk is a Master Bladesmith and has been named a “National Living Treasure”.  He lives near Nashville in Howard County.

The festival will celebrate James Black, the bladesmith who forged the first Bowie Knife for Jim Bowie in Washington.  The festival also showcases a variety of Arkansas heritage crafts and trades.  Activities will include a cutting competition, a knife show, reenactments, heritage and folk arts & crafts, music, a kid’s corner, a Bowie knife exhibit, and food trucks.  “Forged in Fire” celebrities Doug Marcaida and Ricardo Vilar will be on hand as will Fisk and other master bladesmiths Lin Rhea and J.R. Cook.  For information phone 703-4826 or “VisitWashingtonAR” on facebook.

Last year’s festival attracted about 3,000 people for the one day festival.  This year’s event has been extended to two days.  Twenty-seven bladesmiths from over nine states will be on hand for the event.

Fisk fascinated the Kiwanians with the story of how he became a master bladesmith.  He passed around a knife he had made and noted if anyone dropped it to let it fall as catching it wrong could take off fingers.  This particular knife has 627,773,001 layers of steel in it.  He also detailed some additional events set for the festival including a “Forged In Fire” competition.  Fisk said the History Channel may also be on hand to shoot several segments of a series.

Fisk has been making knives for 51 years.  He credits the blacksmith shop at Washington at being an inspiration for his work.  He made an interesting observation about bladesmiths.  Fisk said you can tell if a knifemaker has been practicing his craft long by the number of white spots on his arms where he (or she) has been burned by flying metal.  He noted making knives looks simple but there are costs to pay to become a craftsman.  Fisk also regaled the crowd about teaching and visiting in other countries.

More information on Fisk is available on his website at jerryfisk.com.