Patrick Cull and Barbara Hobot are offering a free mobile knife sharpening service throughout Kitchener and Waterloo. They can be spotted on matching bicycles, towing a cart filled with whetstones and other sharpening supplies. Their routes and itinerary are outlined in maps available at Kitchener City Hall and CAFKA’s website.
While pedaling through the region, the pair will invoke the protection of Saint Catherine of the Wheel. As her legend goes, she shattered with a single touch, the wheel upon which she was to be tortured. She was beheaded instead. For this reason, she became the patron saint of those who work with spinning wheels: knife grinders, millwrights, and potters. She will guide the cycling duo through the perils of motor traffic, so that they can execute the skills of a fading trade. Cull and Hobot’s action is a tribute to self-sufficiency, respect for tools, and the passing on of skills and knowledge from one generation to the next.
