History

Shakerag Workshops began in 2004, with six classes in clay, digital arts, and book arts. From that small beginning, the program has tripled in size with the introduction of our Knitting Getaway retreat in addition to 16-18 classes each year. 

Shakerag Hollow & The Legend

Shakerag Workshops at St. Andrew's-Sewanee School adjoins the hollow by the same name. Shakerag Hollow boasts one of the finest wildflower trails in the area and is named for an old Sewanee custom whereby residents could procure moonshine before the advent of liquor stores. A customer wanting moonshine would come to a stump below the bluff at Beckweth Point, near what is now the fourth hole of the Sewanee golf course, shake a rag at the moonshiner who lived down in the hollow, and leave money for a purchase in a tree stump. Then, as the song about Uncle Bill puts it, "you go 'round the bend, and when you come back, then, there's a jug full o' good ole mountain dew." When he returned, the customer would find a jar of moonshine left in the stump, and the money removed.