A good friend of mine and knifemaker buddy in WA recently found out he has to have a couple surgeries, along with the accompanying meds, etc. He has no insurance, paid time off, or what have you, it's all coming out of his pocket. His name is Brent and he's a kind, generous, and decent person, and I imagine many of you can understand or sympathize with this sort of situation. I'm personally in good shape, physically as well as financially, and what the heck, have some unsold inventory sitting around, so, I decided to raffle a knife off to help him out. The raffle is for this knife, the Curly Olive Butcher Knife. Retail on it is $343, so we need to get at least that much in tickets sold. I'll run the auction for one month, May 1st through May 31st, 2009, with the winner to be chosen a couple days after the end of the auction. If we don't raise that much, no one gets the knife, but Brent gets the total proceeds. Assuming we raise at least $400, the lucky winner gets the knife AND Brent gets the proceeds. Either way, all the $ goes to him to help him get through this. Come on folks, pony up, I know you can spare it.

E-Raffle tickets are $5. Cash, check, MO, PayPal, all are fine. The window of opportunity is one month, from May 1 to May 31, when the raffle will close. I'll offer it here, print this out, offer it on other websites, email it to friends, and offer it in person to whomever I can. I shall run the raffle for one month, and no matter how much money comes in, Brent gets all of it. I've had an incredible, amazing life, why not give something back to your fellow humans, ya know? Send us $20, send us $50, heck, send $100, and I'll write ya in for the appropriate number of shots at winning the raffle. I'll be doing this by hand, but will be fair and will abide by the above rules. No favorites, let's see what we can do to help this person, eh gang?

If you prefer Snail Mail, send your $, name, and contact info (including email address) for raffle tickets to

Michael H Mara
310 Glenwood Avenue
Willow Springs, Il 60480