[TheForge] ABANA Dilema

[Andrew Vida]

GRAF wrote:

> The question is what NEXT?
> 
	The $64 question.
> 
> My small creative idea for ABANA would be to relax on its original 
> mandate and let the local groups and independent publishers handle the 
> education, conferences and magazines, and focus on what these other 
> groups cannot effectively do.

	Good idea.
> 
> 1. Pay attention to federal regulations, particularly air quality and 
> fire regulations.Raise the alarm and help us make a stink if laws, 
> properly applied to large industry,  threaten to impose undue burdens on 
> small time practitioners of this ancient art. It would generally be no 
> big thing to exempt anyone burning less than a ton of coal a year. As 
> state and local ordinances often mimic federal standards this would go a 
> long way toward making life simpler for us all.

	Excellent.
> 
> As it is, in my lifetime, it will be   illegal for some if not most of 
> us to burn charcoal let alone coal.

	One good reason to live in the mountains of WV :)
> 
> 2. Act as a national group which could provide a basis for group health 
> and other insurance.

	Yes...
> 
> 3. Act as an archive for legal issues involving the blacksmiths trade.

	Yes yes...
> 
> 4. Act as host for a multi affiliate discussion of standards and practices.

	Yes yes yes...
> 
> 5. Act as a conduit for scholarships, or a place to pool funds for 
> scholarships, with funding being done by private donation, or affiliate 
> subscription.

	This is where a nice, fat endowment would be of benefit.


	Good ideas... now, who's going to see them realized?

	-Andy