On Thursday, November 6, Fossil Ridge High School’s National Art Honor Society hosted their tenth annual Pottery Throwdown in Fossil’s art classrooms from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The event invited students and members of the community to hand build, throw, and glaze bowls to donate to Larimer County Empty Bowls. As in previous years, the event aimed to yield a total of two hundred bowls.

Two attendees to the event were sophomore Maren Hartley and younger sister Elise Hartley. While the elder assisted with running the event and glazing bowls, the junior created bowls at the wheel. Elise’s insight onto her experience was straightforward: “It’s really, really, really fun,” she described. Maren, however, offered a little more clarity. “It’s really cool to see everybody in the community doing something that not many people try,” she provided. “Make sure to come to next year’s throwdown!”

The throwdown featured various students creating pottery, both as a part of NAHS and as a part of the common student body. Students with experience in the field aided attendees to learn the craft and supported with setup. Among these volunteers was Ezra Bell, who explained that the event helped children explore art. “It’s a wonderful thing to do,” he explained. “It teaches kids that different kinds of art can be fun. It can be messy, like this.” Another volunteer supporting struggling guests was senior Annabeth Sarbacker, who was also a key organizer. “They help people,” she stated, referring to the bowls being created, “so it’s amazing.”

One unique element of this year’s throwdown was the number of Fossil alumni in attendance, art teacher Karen Lemmon explained. One such alum was Greg Schneider, who graduated from Fossil in 2007. For Schneider, the event offered an opportunity to fulfill multiple goals. “I’ve been wanting to throw for a while now, and I wanted to go back to my old high school,” he remarked, elucidating how he had come to attend the event. For Schneider, however, the chance to try pottery brought mixed success. “I still can’t throw for the life of me, so I made a pinch pot.” Schneider’s arrival to the event was announced to the room by a greatly excited Lemmon, who was his Advisory teacher during his time at Fossil.

The bowls created will be donated to the Larimer County Empty Bowls event. There, they will be sold, and funds raised will be donated to the Larimer County Food Bank. Over 200 bowls were donated.