[TheForge] ABANA membership

[Williams, Mark E. (Math & Computer Science)]

One and all,

The point to make is that for $45 per year, an ABANA member receives
two, very well written magazines/journals. One concentrates on the
hands-on projects and the other on other items of importance to the
blacksmith and to the blacksmithing community. The photos of ironwork
are important to all blacksmiths not just the full-time smiths. Those
photos show what one can aspire to make given time, effort and some
creative spark. Much of the work shown in The Anvil's Ring comes from
folk who are not full-time blacksmiths.

ABANA has a major conference every two years. I haven't been to all of
them, however, when I went, I learned a lot. I made friends both
nationally and internationally. Networking is a large part of every
conference. And, since every organization requires help from its
membership to survive, I volunteer my time and talents to ABANA.=20

There are other advantages to being a member - scholarships; grants for
financial support of demonstrations, workshops and local/regional
conferences; video tape library; a well-maintained web site; and a
central office where a multitude of questions are answered. ABANA also
supports this (theforge) listserver.

I receive The Fabricator but am not a member of NOMMA. I do not think we
want to have a two tier membership for ABANA. I do not think such a plan
would be workable given the small number of members that ABANA has
currently.

Mark E. Williams
Snow Hill, Maryland