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Blacksmithing News and Events
Coat of Arms from the town of  Eskilstuna, Sweden
Eskilstuna
Volume 24 - Page 12 of 16 May 2001
ABANA Anvil Firing Controversy
7 Chapters disenfranchised
Photo (c) 2001 Randal Guess, anvilfire.com The Shot heard around the world!
THE ANVIL Shoot went off without a hitch on Saturday (photo above). The conference continued and everyone involved had a wonderful time.

The following day the press release below was posted on the ABANA web site. The seven chapter's listings and contact information on the ABANA site were also removed at that time. space

May 20, 2001

From The Secretary of ABANA

May 20, 2001

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

ABANA has revoked the charters of seven ABANA Chapters for failure to comply with ABANA's policy regarding 'Anvil Shoots'. Cick here for information concerning this policy.

This action was taken as a result of the chapters' participation in an 'Anvil Shoot' at the Southeastern Regional Blacksmithing Conference held in Madison, Georgia, May 19, 2001. The seven chapters are as follows:

Alabama Forge Council
Alex Bealer Blacksmith Association
Appalachian Area Chapter
Florida Artist Blacksmith Association
North Carolina Chapter Of Abana
Ocmulgee Blacksmith Guild
Philip Simmons Artist-Blacksmith Guild Of South Carolina

The revocation of the chapter charters does not affect the individual ABANA membership status of ABANA members within these chapters.

NOW things get messy. There are many questions about whether or not ABANA has the power to act the way they have without a formal board meeting minutes and a record of the vote. There are posts on every blacksmith's forum on the issue. We created a new CRISIS FORUM just to get the rhetoric off our regular forums.

FABA and SERBC state that they have insurance for their event that covers anvil shoots. Since we are talking about what amounts to a form of a public fireworks display I'm sure insurance is available. But ABANA says not.

In ABANA's next press release they demand that NCABANA change their name. The problem is that ABANA does not own its name. There are many groups that use the same acronym as well as a beach town in Turkey by the same name.

Continued on Page 13

CHAPTERS CRISIS FORUM
ABANA chapters policy forum (public)

ABANA By-laws
CanIron III
June 29th - July 1st North Battleford, SK, Canada
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May 2001 Edition
Comments to: Jock Dempsey editor@anvilfire.com
Copyright © 2001 by Jock Dempsey
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