"Thank you very much for this award. I am truly honored. I want to thank those who have helped me along the way. I certainly could not have done this alone and am grateful for all the support I've received from so many of you on this journey.
It began 17 years ago when Bonnie Klein asked me to run for the board in 1989. I served just a few months and then resigned and took the position of Administrator and then became Managing Director. Little did I know that I would be standing here today looking back at an organization that gains its strength of its members. A lot has happened over the years. AAW has been up and down, but we never lost site of our goals of education, disseminating information, technical assistance and reaching out to the youth to introduce them to woodturning and have made steady progress toward our current membership of 12,000 strong.
Woodturning has become a worldwide movement. What began as an ancient craft has been revived and is now established as a new art form. There is an explosion of woodturning as a hobby and more people are improving their skills all the time, participating in craft shows, exhibits and becoming professional woodturners. Major museums are developing woodturning collections. These collections give aspiring woodturners a goal to work toward. Woodturning is developing at all levels and I am thrilled to be a part of it.
For years, my vision for AAW has been to promote woodturning and especially to reach out to the public. To further this, I found available space in Landmark Center, a historic building in downtown St. Paul. We have been there for less than two years and weekly we are moving ahead and forging new relationships to promote woodturning in the Twin Cities and around the country. We normally have three major exhibitions per year, with some of these traveling to other sites in the United States. We have done theme shows, as well as regional shows put together by local chapters and I am excited about the youth exhibit that is planned for next year. We would love to have you stop in and see the gallery if your travels take you through the Twin Cities. If you know of a museum or gallery that would like to receive one of our traveling exhibits, please give me a call or send me an email after the symposium. I’m always open to ideas from members about possible exhibits and venues.
It has been a pleasure to get to know so many of you over the years. I feel that I have made thousands of friends around the world in this wonderful field. I look forward to welcoming many new members into our friendly and supportive woodturning community and hope we never lose those qualities no matter how big we grow. It is you, the members, who are so dedicated to woodturning that push me to become ever more committed and passionate about something that started as an avocation but has become so much more to me and, I know, to all of you. I look forward to seeing many of you next year in Portland. Thank you again for this wonderful honor."
Editor’s notes:
Mary's speech was given at the 2006 AAW Symposium Banquet, 23 June, 2006
Mary may be contacted through this email address: mary@woodturner.org
To view the complete list of AAW Lifetime Membership Award recipients, click here
To learn more about the AAW’s St Paul, MN office and gallery, dial in here