Oregon has had a love for calligraphy ever since Lloyd J. Reynolds began teaching it at Reed College in Portland. His students carried calligraphy into other schools and continued this renaissance.

A few teachers had been giving classes in Eugene, and in February 1976, six people met to explore ways of obtaining supplies and of financing classes and workshops with more experienced teachers. The Original 6 were: our teachers Nancy Shutt (now Rausch) and Fran Strom (the late Fran Strom Sloan), and students Joan Bray, Barbara Mundall, Sandy Tilcock and Edie Roberts.

Our name, The Valley Calligraphy Guild, came from a desire to include other cities throughout the Willamette Valley. And the support was immediate! Our very first workshop was with Judy Aiello, a Portland graphic artist. We nearly overflowed the classroom. There were people there that day who remained members to this day. Fund raising has been an adventure. At the first meetings we brought our used paperback books to sell to each other and donated the money to the treasury. We also sold recipe cards (a dime) and plant cuttings (15 cents). As treasurer, I'd go home with an envelope full of nickels and dimes and gradually our treasury grew. In the earliest years, we had wonderfully successful Christmas sales, including all sorts of calligraphic items and even fresh-cut greens, donated, cut, ribboned and trimmed by volunteers. The guild was known for lots of enthusiasm and fun.

All of that first book was collated by hand (stacks of each page were arranged on a pool table, and we would walk around and around the table, chatting and collating and trying to forestall attacks of vertigo); and punched by hand (we had a little machine that would punch three pages at a time!); and bound by hand (same little machine). One thousand copies sold out!

Then in the summer of 1978, we prepared Pots & Pens Two, an all new version, bigger and more tightly organized. And this time we let the printer have the joy of collating! As we grew, and as the work (and the postage expenses) expanded, we realized we needed some professional advice. So we talked with a lawyer who worked with art groups. By January 1979 we'd become incorporated and then received nonprofit status from the government. (It was time-consuming and sometimes hair-raising, but worth it.) Fran and Nancy continued their teaching. First with beginner classes; then at intermediate level; finally an advanced class taught by both teachers at first. When Nancy moved from Eugene, Fran continued classes on all 3 levels. Her enthusiastic encouragement was always stimulating more students and more VCG members. Over the years we've had outstanding calligraphy workshops with teachers from Oregon including: Elizabeth Anderson, Bettye Lou Bennett, Dorothy Dehn, Inga Dubay, Barbara Getty, Joyce Grafe, Mary Greely, Louise Grunewald, Lois McClelland, Marilyn Reaves, Eliza Schulte, Fran Strom, Jaki Svaren, Keith Vinson and Allen Q. Wong.

We never knew for sure which of our projects would actually "take". In September 1976, we had our first Retreat at Camp Wilani in Veneta. It was a fun weekend, but the next summer it didn't repeat.