letter from tom clark

Dear Bill,

After reading your message in the November 2005 Clinker Breaker, my
first thoughts were, "This is a classic example of the pot calling the
kettle black".

Your newsletter notes that you are an ABANA chapter, but in
researching the files, I do not find that you are an ABANA member.
Your message reveals that, ABANA Board member, Jerry Kagele, has used
the Anvil's Ring and the Northwest newsletters to promote his personal
agenda. You say that Kagele was fired as newsletter editor and in
response, Kagele sued the Northwest Chapter. (Let me make it clear
that I am not taking sides with Kagele or anyone else, but I am also
not taking comments out of context and spreading those rumors as fact).

When I first heard that Kagele had been fired and was suing the
chapter, I asked my informant if the board had followed the rules of
the organization, in having a meeting to fire him. It seems that is
the same question that Kagele asked. It is also my understanding that
Kagele did not file suit, but did threaten to do so, if the board had
acted in an illegal manner and refused to back down. It is now my
understanding that that was the case, Kagele filed legal action only to
have a judge rule as to whether or not the board had acted with proper
authority. It is also now my understanding that the board refused
Kagele's request to have the entire membership vote, with regard to his
status as newsletter editor. However, an out of court agreement has
been reached, and it is a dead issue. You also state that as a result,
the NWBA will not host the 2006 ABANA conference. The fact is, they
were never the host. A board ruling after the financial fiasco of the
1998 conference, would state that the ABANA board of directors would in
fact be the organizers and hosts of ABANA conferences, starting with
2002. Of course it would always be expected that the local affiliate
would play a major role in all ABANA conferences. As I understand it,
the NWBA has encouraged its members to attend and volunteer on an
individual basis. I hope and believe that the NWBA will be
significantly represented at the ABANA conference. Believing this, I
checked and was informed that approximately one third of demonstrators
and volunteers were NWBA members.

You also advised your membership to check on Kagele's past personal
history, and while I agree that one could question his past, it seems
that he is now serving as an attorney in the state of Washington and
has obviously paid his dues. The question here is not about his past,
but about the present, and the future of ABANA.
I would like to have trust in the balance of the ABANA board to judge
Kagele's capability of managing this conference. It is what we elected
THEM to do.

Now let's focus on the infamous anvil shoot at Madison, Georgia, which
resulted in 7 chapters being dismissed from ABANA. It was my
understanding, at some time before the Madison conference, there was a
meeting of the seven chapters to vote on the issue of whether or not to
shoot the anvil at Madison. If any one member objected, they would not
shoot the anvil. It is also my understanding that Alabama said it
would support the rules of ABANA as long as they were a member, and
also the Appalachian area chapter voted to support ABANA. But you shot
the anvil anyway. So, what good are rules, what is the purpose of a
group making rules, if they themselves are not going to abide by them?
Anyway, this whole issue was not about shooting anvils, it was the
result of a long conflict between, traditional and artist
blacksmithing. Some have said...between the North and the South. You
claim that Florida would not accept a national organization deciding
their own business, but the fact is, the chapters belong to
ABANA....not the other way around. Like it or not, the Southeast broke
its own rules the day they shot the anvil.

Kagele may have been a strong voice about not shooting the anvil, but
it was in fact, past president, Lou Mueller who reported to the board
that the insurance company would not cover ABANA's liability if they
had any association with anvil shooting. So, ABANA issued a notice
that the insurance company made a direct connection with the chapters
connection with ABANA's liability. Nobody knew this better than, (then
board member) Tim Ryan, and I personally advised Tim to pursue
insurance through the NRA, where they had coverage for black powder
activities. But, to my knowledge, Tim nor anyone else made any efforts
to obtain insurance that would allow anvil shooting.

I was present that day, and I advised (then president) Doug Learn, that
both Alabama and Appalachian chapter should not be considered for
having broken the rule, but my voice fell on deaf ears. I have since
asked ABANA board members, to rectify their wrongdoing with Alabama and
Appalachian area, but to my knowledge, ABANA has not. (Shame on ABANA)
I add that it is never too late to make an apology.

Why fight? ABANA is not an object out there in space somewhere, it is
our national organization. If we accept the challenge and join in the
effort to provide professional management for our national organization
the whole family of blacksmithing will prosper. Sure it can be said,
we don't need ABANA now, we can do it on our own, but why? We are
where we are because of ABANA.

There has never been any question in my mind that the volunteer group
of board members, lack professional management capabilities. While I
was on the board in 1993, I arranged for the president of a major and
successful group like ours, to make a presentation to the board, but
(then president) Clayton Carr, would have no part of it. Saying that
we had too much on our agenda and that we could take care of our
problems. Having had two personal experiences with non-profit
organizations that have hired outside professional management with
great success, I advised, now president, Don Kemper, that I had talked
to and had asked Carter Keathley, president of the Hearth Products and
Barbeque Association, who has achieved tremendous success because they
hired professional management in the beginning. Carter was in fact an
employee of the management company before taking over the full time
management position he now holds. Carter has nothing to gain, but, he
has volunteered his help to at least advise our group of the
possibilities of obtaining outside professional management at a price
we can afford. I have heard nothing from Don Kemper or of his
intentions to pursue this matter.

Lets not fight. I for one am working to promote ABANA's conference,
2006 in Seattle, as well as trying to provide positive input for its
future activities. I would ask that you, and those like you join the
team and try to solve the problems from the inside, rather than take
the easy road and continue "potshots" from the outside.

In closing, let me ask that everyone who reads this, either participate
or encourage others to participate in either one of the two ring
projects. The success of this actually, not only brings people
together, but also helps finance the conference. Remember to make
tools or other items for the "BAM Box" or "Iron in Hat" in general.

Respectfully,

Tom Clark

Tom Clark
Ozark School of Blacksmithing
573-438-4725 (phone)
573-438-6848 (cell)
573-438-8483 (Fax)
www.ozarkschool.com