Excerts from a history written by Paula Scott, the driving force behind the LLBWA and its first president.  We asked her to write a history for us so that current members can learn about our beginnings.

In my past life, I have always given myself a year to move.  Our family moves were to different states and with 4 kids, it always took me that long to find a house and settle in to get kids in school, find new doctors and dentists, churches, and social activities.  When we moved from Michigan to Illinois in 1986, I gave myself that long even though I had begun weaving baskets in Michigan and knew I couldn't give it up for long.  Anne Fusco was the first basket weaver that I met in Illinois.  She was at a craft show at the mall in Decatur and told me about several people in the area who wove.  I started making contacts.  I was also registered to attend the Michigan Basket Association Convention for '87.  It was in Traverse City, Michigan, and I decided to go by myself and give some thought to what direction I wanted to go with my love for baskets and basket weaving.  It was a wonderful experience and I did make some decisions; two of which were to open a basket weaving shop in Decatur and try to start a guild or association for Illinois basket people.

I remember five Illinois basket weavers being at Traverse City that year: Kay Kjeldgaard, Anne Fusco, Debra Blair, Joan McBain, and myself.  Kay, Anne, and I met for breakfast one morning and talked about how to start a group and we made some plans.  Deb had a conflict that morning but she gave us lots of support and help.  That winter she sponsored a one day workshop in Springfield and had Joan Moore from Michigan down to teach.  There was good attendance.  attended the night class and met several weavers form Springfield.  We decided to shoot for a meeting in the early spring of 1988.

In January, I opened my tiny shop and sent out 100 letters to people in Illinois to see if there was interest in a group.  The Illinois State Natural History Museum in Springfield had been contacted about helping us with a meeting place and program, which they graciously did at no cost.  Michigan Basket Weavers sent literature on starting guilds, their constitution, and suggested teachers for future workshops.  Several supply businesses sent raffle gifts.  The date was set for Sunday, March 6, 1988.

I was amazed! We had 47 people there.  Dr. Terry Martin, Curator of Anthropology at the Museum and his wife had about 40 baskets more than 100 years old for us to look at up close and personal.  These were baskets that were not on display at the museum but from the vault.  We could not touch - but they were on the table in front of us - beautiful Indian baskets!  After the baskets were safely tucked away, we shared refreshments and had a short business meeting.  We said "Yes" to forming a group, voted to name it Land of Lincoln Basketweavers Association, and named a temporary board to draw up a constitution and name a slate of officers.  The majority of people were from Springfield, Decatur, and Bloomington, but we had a good representation of Central Illinois.  I don't remember how many raffle gifts we had, but we had a lot: books, supplies, and baskets.  I think everyone was surprised by our success and what a wonderful time we had.  No pictures were made that I know of, as we couldn't photograph the baskets.

The temporary board met on Sunday, April 17, 1988 in Decatur.  We had a very long meeting, but it was productive.  We put together a constitution and slate of officers to recommend to the membership.  Membership dues were decided on and a summer open weave was planned for July.