[TheForge] (no subject)

Fri Oct 22 18:33:11 EDT 2010

You're in MARYLAND and need to go to NATIONAL meetings?  You've got
four -- count 'em, FOUR -- ABANA affiliates in Maryland and it's a
little state!  And if that's not good enough for you, there are four
more in Virginia, one in West Virginia,  and four in Pennsylvania.
There is no place on earth with a greater density of ABANA affiliates
than Maryland!!!

Now, in New Jersey it's kinda the opposite.  We have one ABANA
affiliate here which has annexed Staten Island, Long Island, random
pieces of NYC, and southeastern NY State in general, as well as parts
of eastern Pennsylvanian and northern Delaware.  We've been kicking
around the idea of switching over to the forge counsel model so we can
better serve the folks in places like Chicago, New Jersey.  (South
Park, CO, has been giving us a little resistance, though.)  It's a
Jersey thing...

On Fri, Oct 22, 2010 at 4:58 PM, Caitlin Morris
<caitlin.morris at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm a new smith, hungry to meet people who can share techniques, share
> ideas, teach me something.  I was so excited to go to ABANA this May in
> Memphis because I had the opportunity of seeing demonstrations and work from
> smiths outside of my greater geographic neighborhood.
>
> Yes, that need can be met by going to more far-flung local events.  (And
> that's on my list.) But there's something to be said for attending a
> national-level event.  For me, it was something of a pilgrimage--Maryland to
> Memphis was a 14 hour drive and ate up a week of my allotted two weeks of
> vacation (yes, I'm still a cubical slave).  I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
>
>
> That said, a 26 hour *drive* to Rapid City is a bit beyond my capabilities.
>  So the alternative is to fly and choose to either pay the fees to check my
> bags or deal with the scrutiny of TSA when they're trying to decide if you
> can kill someone with a center punch.  Either way it's a more expensive trip
> for me.  But I want to do it anyway.  Because I'm *hungry.*
>
> **And because waiting FOUR years for the next ABANA conference would be
> unbearable.  :)
>
> According to MY perfect world, ABANA would happen every year and I could
> decide which cities & years I wanted to go to.
>
> We could put the ABANA conference on a rotation: Northwest, Northeast,
> Southwest, Southeast, Center
>
> But also in my perfect world, these conferences would be magically organized
> by elves and I wouldn't feel guilty about making them throw a perfect
> conference every year.  I wouldn't have to worry about the elves working
> overtime (cause that's what elves do, donchaknow?).
>
> Indeed, I considered applying to become an elf myself, but it requires
> something like 6 hours of volunteer work a week.  Which would be easy if I
> could just get everyone to convert to a 30-hour day... :)
>
> I don't mean to natter on here, but if there were tireless elves organizing
> the conferences and an unending font of money, I'd meekly request that they
> make *more* conferences so that I could meet more of you and learn more,
> faster.
>
> Caitlin
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Fri, Oct 22, 2010 at 2:33 PM, Jerry Frost <akfrosty at mtaonline.net> wrote:
>> While I don't feel a lot of personal connection to ABANA I have to say
> it's
>> as relavant as it's members make it. My first contact was when Chris Ray
> got
>> me subscribed to TheForge list and I discovered there was a blacksmithing
>> group at all. I've been subbed since and have learned more than I've
>> contributed.
>>
>> As to how connected to the left coast or Alaska it is, how many folk from
>> the west ran in the last board elections? I know Will held a board
> position
>> for quite some time but could only do as much as he could. If most of the
>> people who run and get elected are from the east or midwest I can't say
> I'm
>> surprised that's where most of the representation lays things.
>>
>> Even in our small young Alaskan group there are only a few folk willing to
>> try making things happen while most just want to show up for meetings or
>> clinics. I don't blame them, that's what I was looking for myself when the
>> silly guys elected me president while I was on a bathroom break. That'll
>> teach me to leave the room during  a meeting! I insisted I'd only serve a
> 2
>> year sentence and do no more than I had to. I won my re-election while in
> a
>> coma and discovered some months later it was now a life sentence!
>>
>> I have no complaints about how ABANA is run, where events are held or
> who's
>> in office. I'm not about to run for a board seat. I learned my lesson!
> What
>> I will do is thank the guys who are serving for their service and efforts,
>> it's a lot more work than a person'd think, even at the deliberately low
>> level I'll allow in out local club.
>>
>> Speaking of which, Tomorrow, Sat Oct 23 is our quarterly meeting at my
> shop.
>> Bring warm shoes and such, I'll have the barrel stove burning but if it's
>> seasonably cold you're gong to appreciate warm feet and  a jacket at
> least.
>>
>> Jer
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "peter fels & phoebe palmer" <artgawk at thegrid.net>
>> To: "Blacksmithing List Sponsored by ABANA" <theforge at mailman.qth.net>
>> Sent: Friday, October 22, 2010 3:35 AM
>> Subject: [TheForge] (no subject)
>>
>>
>>>
>>> Just to stir up some sand.......
>>>
>>> I can't help but feel that ABANA
>>> is primarily an east coast organization.
>>> Most of the conferences are too far away to economically attend, for
>>> those of us on the left coast.
>>> Most of the ABANA workshops etc are on the east coast.
>>> The Anvil's Ring sorta feels like it comes from another country.
>>> The organization has become so large as to have become an institution
>>> with all of the baggage that implies..
>>> Sure, efforts to include us are evident...but......
>>> Perhaps it should be split?
>>>
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> ____________________
> Caitlin Morris
>
> caitlin.morris at gmail.com
> ______________________________________________________________
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-- 
Bruce
NJ