September 2009 AAW Board LetterFrom Mary Lacer ... Membership Renewal: A 2010 Membership Renewal Notice was attached to front of the Fall Edition of the journal. We would like to encourage renewal online to save costs. There is a small increase in dues for 2010. You may renew your membership on the website or you can use the separate special envelopes for your renewal document and your board election ballot. Please be sure to review the information on your listing to make sure it is correct. Your membership card will be included with the first Journal for 2010 to save postage. Thank you for renewing early. Click here for web link for membership. Special Membership Note: Currently, 50% of local Chapter members are also members of AAW. While this is the core of AAW membership, the other-side-of-the-coin is 50% of local Chapter members are not members of AAW. As a current active AAW member, we could use your help to grow our membership. We have some excellent additional membership benefits in the works for 2010, so please encourage your fellow local chapter members to join you as a member of AAW. NEW Member Benefits: The newest benefit is a section on the website dedicated to providing a simple and convenient way for AAW members to sell their work and buy pieces from other members, galleries and museums. AAW members may also post "ads" on the website for items they are looking to acquire. You will find the ONLINE SALES VENUE directly under the SEARCH option at the upper left side of the Home Page. You also can use this direct link. The Board has decided to begin publishing six issues of the AAW Journal starting in February, 2010. Each new issue of the Journal will have slightly fewer pages than previous quarterly issues to maximze printing efficiencies. And the Board is shooting for a 28% content increase. Health insurance for AAW members has been a very desirable benefit. AAW is able to offer most of our U.S. resident members and their family's medical insurance policies at very competitive rates. Check the website for further information and to request a quote. We continue to work to increase and improve benefits for our members. Additional member benefits are being pursued and will be announced on the website and in the journal as soon as they are available. Check here for a detaile list of current member benefits. Youth Programs: Working with the Hunt County
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I would also like to get a Girl Scout Badge for Woodturning. If anyone has any knowledge about the procedure, I would be grateful if you would give me a call (651-484-9094) or send an e-mail with whatever information you have to assist in the process. There are 3.7 million Girl Scouts and adult leaders. Annouced in the Summer 2007 issue of Journal, the AAW Young Turners Program is now available on the website. This web-based plan allows chapters to access and print required materials as needed. Detailed project outlines and documents are available in PDF format for download and printing. Chapters should be familiar with each project, using the outlines provided as guidelines and teaching aids. The basic program has two phases. Phase One involves simple spindle projects - either two tops or a honey dipper. At the end of this session, the young turners will receive their Woodturning Student Certificate. Phase Two is designed to increase skill with more complex projects. To complete this phase, the young turners are required to turn four projects from a larger list. At the completion of Phase Two, the young turner receives their Woodturning Journeyman Certificate along with a complimentary one year AAW membership. The direct Website link. It has been very fulfilling for so many of our AAW woodturners to work on youth-oriented projects and help to inspire a new generation of woodturners. It's a win-win situation working with the younger generation helps keep us young! Read the Winter 2006 issue of American Woodturner for excellent examples of chapter youth programs. Journal Newsstand Sales: The AAW Journal, American Woodturner is distributed to newsstands across the country by the Ingram Periodicals. The Fall issue newsstand distribution increased by 200 to 3,350. The major suppliers are Barnes and Noble, Rockler and Woodcraft stores. Over 500 retail book stores and 75 woodturning supply retail stores support AAW by carrying the Journal. If any of you have suggestions or avenues on how to increase journal circulation, please let me know. AAW Gallery of Wood Art: Our attendance and sales continue to grow in the AAW Gallery of Wood Art here in St. Paul. We are receiving an excellent response to our exhibits and are getting more visitors who are making the Gallery a repeat destination during their time in St. Paul. It's always great to see AAW members stop by. This kind of increased activity at the Gallery helps generate public awareness of and interest in the art of woodturning. Maple Medley: An Acer Showcase: I encourage members to take part in the AAW Exhibit planned for the Hartford Symposium - Maple Medley: An Acer Showcase. Please note that the application information published in the Fall issue of the Journal on page 17 is incorrect. The correct application procedure can be found on the AAW website at this link. The deadline for on line applications is February 8, 2010. The Exhibit will open at the symposium and then travel to St. Paul for our fall show. There are more than 20 species of maple, including Box Elder. We encourage you to use your imagination to introduce humor into your turnings. We are also looking for other venues for the exhibit. If you can suggest a venue in your area, please let me know. 2010 Demonstrators: As Tom Wirsing said in his August message, we have a wonderful slate of demonstrators and panelists for the 2010 Symposium. The call for demonstrators is on the AAW Website. If you are interested in doing two to four demonstrations, the application deadline is October 15, 2009. You will find the demonstrators application on our website. 25th Anniversary Symposium: We have already begun the early planning for our 25th Anniversary Symposium on June 24-26, 2011 in St. Paul, Minnesota - just one block from the AAW national offices! The plans include a woodturning cruise on the Mississippi River and a Local Chapter exhibit with a piece representing each of our Local Chapters. Look for more details on the Website as they develop. Thanks to all our members for your support. It is very gratifying to have so many dedicated turners be part of our organization. I look forward to working with you to maximize the benefits of being a member of AAW. I truly welcome your suggestions about how we can improve our organization. Feel free to call or send an e-mail. With summer drawing to a close, it's time to start thinking about turning projects and getting back in the shop. I have a variety of projects to explore. I hope you are equally as eager to get back to the lathe. Time to make chips! |
Woodturners in Texas, we have applied to the National Boy Scout office to reinstate their Woodturning Merit Badge. This merit badge was available from 1930-1952, but for reasons lost in time, was discontinued. I would like to thank the Hunt County Woodturners for their help. I will continue to keep you updated on our progress. There is a huge bureaucracy to struggle with and they almost proudly inform you that the process can take 3 or 4 years, with no guarantee of success. Plus, the costs to create a new Scout Merit Badge is around $75,000.00. What's more, they 
usually do not simply add a badge they drop one to add another, making the process even more complicated. Despite all the negatives, there are over 2.9 MILLION Scouts and another 1.1 MILLION adult leaders/counselors and we will continue to pursue the woodturning badge.