What makes us human? For Regina VanScoy, the line between animal and human can be found in the use of our amazing hands.

“I think the most unique thing about human beings is our hands and our hand/brain connection,” said VanScoy.

“There is something beautiful about physically creating something with your own two hands.”

VanScoy is one of the founding members of the Enchanted Mountain Weavers’ Guild. She has dedicated more than two decades to learning how to spin and weave. She is driven to preserve and pass on these historical skills.

The Enchanted Mountain Weavers’ Guild meets from March to December at 10 a.m. on the second Saturday of the month at the Bradford Area Public Library. The group began back in 1991 as a brainstorm between VanScoy and her mother-in-law, Linda Georgian; and Doris Knight, among others.

VanScoy’s mother-in-law had grown up on a farm in West Virginia, watching her mother and grandmother spin yarn and weave on a large loom.

“She had wove on the loom but she had never set it up by herself,” said VanScoy. “And if you know anything about weaving you know that setting up the loom is a process in itself.”

Her mother-in-law helped spark VanScoy’s interest in weaving. But VanScoy had been sewing her own clothing for many years. She grew up in the Bronx and got her undergrad degree at Hunter College, before going to graduate school in West Virginia, where she met her husband.

“Back before I started college I realized I didn’t have any clothes to wear and we didn’t have money for new clothes,” said VanScoy.

“So, I bought myself a sewing machine and taught myself by referencing sewing books.”

Trying to support her mother-in-law’s interest, VanScoy began talking to local people who knew how to weave.

“We found her a used loom right in Bradford, then I put a little tiny blurb in both the Olean and Bradford papers asking if anyone was interested in starting a weaving guild,” said VanScoy.

In the beginning, VanScoy didn’t know anything at all about weaving or spinning. But she was game to learn. She secured a meeting place for the guild and began to find looms for the members to learn on. Once she found out that there was money available for the project through an art grant, she was off and running.

“I wrote the grant and we were awarded it that year; it was also available the next year so we applied again and once again were awarded,” said VanScoy.

The grant allowed the guild to hire a master weaver, Harriet Johnson, to come and give a four-week beginner class.

“That really got us going after that; she is very talented and a great teacher,” said VanScoy.

“Over the years she has continued to teach many classes for us.”

As the group picked up popularity, both men and women continued to swell the ranks. One notable member was the late James Baker, who would go on to set up the weaving room at the McKean County Historical Society. A woodworker, Baker made all the looms himself. He would go on to teach many classes through the society.

“When he came in it was pretty much all women and I could tell he was nervous at first,” said VanScoy. “But once he started learning it really took off for him and he became an outstanding weaver.”

In the beginning, VanScoy said she borrowed looms from people she didn’t even know, in order to provide guild members with all the tools they needed.

“Most people coming did not have a loom yet,” said VanScoy.

“I borrowed quite a few and set them up in our meeting room which was fantastic.”

Next, came the spinning. For VanScoy, spinning has a particular place in her heart. Artists with the Southern Tier Fiber Arts Guild came and did a four-week “sheep to shawl” class where members did everything from shearing the sheep to washing the wool, carding it and eventually spinning it into yarn.

“That really got a lot of us excited about the spinning,” said VanScoy.

Since then, the guild has been going strong. Throughout the years, they lost their meeting place but eventually found a home at the Bradford Area Public Library.

“The library has always been very supportive of us,” said VanScoy.

Covid, of course, proved a difficult time.

“The thing about handcrafts like spinning and weaving is they are passed on primarily by person to person,” said VanScoy.

She gave the example of learning to spin.

“I have lots of people who I have taught to spin who tried to learn out of books or through video and they get very frustrated,” said VanScoy.

“But if they sit in front of me and spin I can usually tell them what they are doing wrong within the first few moments.”

The guild has also had classes on basket weaving, felting, dyeing, inkle weaving, tablet weaving and more.

“The thing about weaving is it is such a broad topic that there is always something new you can learn,” said VanScoy.

The guild isn’t just open to adults. They strive to pass on their knowledge to the next generation as well through offering classes to children at locations such as Crook Farm.

“We have taught lots of children’s classes like spinning on a drop spindle or weaving mug rugs,” said VanScoy.

“We have also done displays and demonstrations at the Bradford Area Public Library.”

VanScoy hopes that the work of the guild will help highlight the important cultural influence that fiber arts have had throughout the years. In cultures all over the world throughout time immemorial, men and women have needed to make yarn and fabric for themselves.

“When you teach little children you can see how excited they are to craft something with their own hands,” said VanScoy. “It is important that we don’t let these traditions die out.”