Summer 2009 President's LetterFrom Bill Haskell ... For those going to Albuquerque, don’t miss the opportunity to travel to nearby New Mexico locations, where there are a vast number of natural, historic, and cultural settings. The new daily train service, the Rail Runner Express, will take you to the delightful city of Santa Fe and back. Youth training continues to be an emphasis for our organization. It is great to see so many AAW chapters conducting youth training in schools and other venues. This is something that more chapters can engage in and make a difference with youth in their area. The symposium this year will again feature youth training sessions. In addition, a complete lathe and tool station will be awarded to 25 of the attending youth. Any young person between the ages of 10 and 17 who attends the symposium with a paid adult will be given a free registration. Also at the Albuquerque symposium, there will be a raffle for a Powermatic lathe and a JET mini lathe, thanks to the WMH Tool Group. The proceeds from this raffle will go to the AAW Emergency Relief Fund (ERF). In the past, the ERF helped woodturners replace some of their shop equipment after destruction caused by natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina.
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Letter continued: While in the Southwest, I attended the Desert Roundup put on by the Arizona Woodturners. What a wonderful conference it was, like so many other local symposiums. I found here, as I do at any gathering of woodturners, that they are among the friendliest, sharing, and engaging groups of people. Speaking of regional symposiums, those events are becoming more and more popular and prevalent. Last year, there were 14 regional symposiums—it’s amazing to see how far the woodturning movement has come and continues to grow. Looking at how far the woodturning movement and the AAW have come will be the focus of our 2011 symposium in St. Paul when we celebrate the AAW’s 25th anniversary. Plans are being made to make this a very special event, one you will not want to miss. This issue will be the second American Woodturner edited by Betty Scarpino. We would like to hear from our members. Feel free to express your opinion on our AAW website forum regarding what you like and what you think can be improved upon. One of our initiatives to improve member services and benefits can be found in a new format: emails sent to local chapters. We hope local chapters will provide feedback on this new form of communication, as well as other areas of interest to AAW chapters. Feel free to contact our Chapters & Membership Chair, Dale Larson. We hope many of you attend the chapter presidents’ meeting in Albuquerque to voice your ideas. I would like to emphasize that your Board of Directors represents each AAW member and I encourage you to contact any of us (see www.woodturner.org for contact information or the Resource Directory for current committee chairs) regarding your thoughts and suggestions for improving our AAW organization. We welcome your input! Bill Haskell |
