Many of you have attended this event over the years. When I first started attending in the early 1990s the place was packed with archers, atlatlists, and vendors. It was tough to find a campsite, there was an active knapping pit lasting well into the night, and we would usually have over 30 atlatlists participate in Michigan Atlatl activities. I remember hearing attendance levels of 500 or more!

In the late 1990s the attendance began to decline and never recovered. In 2003 we brought in quite a crowd when the Michigan Atlatl Association hosted the World Atlatl Association Annual Meeting. Check out Margie Takoch's great photo album of the event here. In an attempt to bolster attendance about 2004 or 2005, Wilder Creek held "Mayfaire" in conjunction with the Primitive Archery Rendezvous. This was a Renaisance Festival type event that frankly scared off many of the primitive archery folks. The Mayfairies only stuck around for one year, but the damage was done and next year the attendance was at an all time low.

This year there were only 3 vendors and probably less than 50 attendees total. We had one ISAC flight of 5. It was nice to see the Aldrich clan in attendance as well as Dan Hovater and Tim Lavoy. See the photos above for the rest of the story.

This year the MAA was scheduled to be present for 3 hours. In past years we were there and busy for two and even three day. Will the MAA be present next year? Only if major changes are made that will bring more attendance.