Each month, one of the nine current members of the AAW Board of Directors, or the Executive Director, prepares a message for the membership, sharing news, reports from meetings, current events and personal views. See below to read Al Hockenbery's November 2009 message from the Board.
Dear AAW Members,
I thank each of you for supporting the AAW through your membership and volunteer activities you undertake on behalf of the AAW and its chapters.
For me, the AAW is all about members helping members through various networking opportunities and communication venues. When you invite someone to visit your shop or see the woodturnings you have in your home, you are introducing them to the AAW.
We all see the big splash contributions to woodturning by our AAW members writing for the American Woodturner, demonstrating at symposiums and club meetings, classes they teach, and work they display in shows. However, the most valuable contributions are one on one sharing between friends. Something we all do.
My amazing journey began with a phone call from Frank Amigo in 1993. Frank had seen my name in the AAW directory and invited me to a meeting of new club he started with other AAW members. That began a wonderful friendship with Frank. It also became the first in depth contact I had with other turners. I was in a group that shared freely and genuinely supported each other’s endeavors. This association with 18 people grew to hundreds of friends and acquaintances in AAW across the nation and around the world.
Perhaps, the most important thing we can do as AAW members is to reach out to those around us. Call someone in the AAW directory. Invite a new acquaintance to see your shop. Volunteer for your local club. Form a local club. Help run a regional symposium. Volunteer at the AAW symposium.
We all know the AAW relies on its membership dues. Often, we define the AAW as being its 13,000 paid members, the AAW Symposium, and the American Woodturner, but the AAW is much more. Two significant extensions are AAW presence in over 300 local chapters and in nearly 20 regional symposiums.
The AAW chapters include sixteen with 100% AAW membership. The other chapters allow “limited” memberships (chapter only). For a club to be qualified to be an AAW sanctioned chapter with the AAW furnishing liability insurance for the chapter, all officers and directors of that chapter must be AAW members. Only AAW members will be insured under this policy for claims that may be brought against them for bodily injuries that they may have caused to another person while performing a chapter sanctioned activity. Chapter members that are not AAW members who participate in chapter sanctioned activities are not insured for claims that may be brought against them.
The many regional symposiums are produced by AAW chapters and most use the AAW insurance to hold their events. The excellent Utah Symposium is the one notable exception. But it was founded by Dale Nish: AAW founder, AAW lifetime member, educator and author. Dale wrote Creative Woodturning which I used in the 70s to teach myself turning. In January, Dale will be at the Florida Symposium. Oh! Did I mention I joined AAW using a flier sent in box of materials from Utah? Is this a small world or what!
Give something to woodturning. You’ll get more back than you can imagine. I hope to see you at Lake Yale, Tampa Fairgrounds, Hartford, or around a lathe somewhere.