New Jersey Blacksmiths Association

ABANA Conference 2010

The ABANA 2010 conference will be held at the AgriCenter International in Memphis, Tennessee. Opening ceremonies will be on Wednesday, June 2, 2010. Thursday through Saturday will be full days of forging demo's and excitement ABANA style.

Saturday will conclude with a pay as you go Memphis BBQ banquet and the conference auction.

The theme of the conference is to be "ABANA's Greatest Hits" in keeping with Memphis' musical heritage. The ticket price will turn the clock back at least 8 years...

The site (click here) is within a few miles of thousands of reasonably priced hotel rooms. Camping and RV hook-ups and hot showers will be available on site. Stay tuned for additional announcements.

AgriCenter International is located at 7777 Walnut Grove Road, from I-240, on the east side of Memphis, take Exit 13 and drive east on Walnut Grove Road approximately 4.2 miles to Farm Road and turn south, go .1 mile.

The ABANA Board has approved a motion selecting AgriCenter International, Memphis Tennessee, as the site for the 2010 conference. This is a change from the previously announced Mud Island location.

Lance Davis, Co-Chair for the 2010 Conference said, "We are excited to be putting on the conference at AgriCenter because this site allows us to spread out demonstration areas more, it supports a larger attendance, it supports campers and RV owners better, and provides easier parking arrangements. Most of all, by switching to AgriCenter we support our members by making the conference less expensive to attend. We plan a conference focused on blacksmithing education while not forgetting the many groups that come together to be ABANA."

The Conference will open on Wednesday, June 2 and close on Saturday, June 5 with the Auction. See you in Memphis!

The Conference Demonstrators

The 2010 ABANA Conference Committee is pleased to announce the first group of confirmed demonstrators. We are working behind the scenes to secure additional demonstrators to round out the conference.

JOE ANDERSON (of NC) will do one demo on forged kitchen ware and 2 sessions on sculpture

MARK ASPERY (of CA) will do tool-making demos.

GERALD BOGGS (of VA) will do a demonstration; subject TBD.

DAN BOONE (of VA) will do 2 demo sessions on dragon's heads and his other products

DAN AND JUDY BOONE will do a round table talk and question session on how they market their wares.

PHIL COX (of MO) will do a session "power hammers - getting the most out of them" including both mechanical and air hammers, he will also cover tips on checking used hammers and rebuilding them

DAN NAUMAN (of WI) will demonstrate repoussé

DARRYL NELSON (of WA) will do a demonstration forging of animal heads.

STEVE PARKER (of IL) will demonstrate power hammer tools and forging.

TOM LATANTE (of WI) will lead the "Meticulous Metalsmiths" forging a lock during the conference.

MARK ASPERY will run the "Green Coal" teaching station, with DARRYL NELSON and GERALD BOGGS.

AMIT HAR-LEV and TSUR SADAN (of Israel) demo topic has not been confirmed

Continue to be on the look out for additional 2010 conference announcements on the ABANA website, and here in the Constant Contact email
On behalf of your ABANA 2010 Conference Committee

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