Sarah Ritchie
Dan Crowther
Jack Connell
John Ackner
Andy VanSchoick

Mabee Farm Demonstration Update:

• Event date is firmly set for April 25th
• Event is open to the public, both CDBA and the Mabee Farm will provide publicity
• Demonstrations will take place at specific times
• Additional historically oriented blacksmiths will asked to assist with demonstrations
  • Wolves of Woden -11th Century Norse group
  • Clans of the Dragon - 5th Century Irish group
• The onsite smithy runs with bellows, coal, and no electricity. Any demonstrators will need to take this into account.

Dan indicated there was a space issue with the current CDBA webite.

• More space could be purchased by CDBA for $3.95/month
• The members present preferred that the old "Scrap Books" be taken down and archived to make more room, however.
• If more space is still needed the old meeting minutes could be archived too.

MetalSupermarket Demonstration Update:

• Andy has placed 2 calls recently to setup this even with the store owner, but has gotten no reply.
• A 3rd call will be made this week, and if no immediate results are forthcoming the event will be removed from the calendar.

Clarification regarding non-paying members

• At the end of March any member who has not yet paid dues will no longer receive a mailed newsletter, since the primary purpose of dues is to cover newsletter mailing.
• Event announcements will still be mailed to all because the current cost for those items is small

January Gathering Critique:

• The host site was at near total capacity.
• It was suggested that a tent (EZ-Up) be placed near the barn entrance. It could be heated by the propane forges at work and the barn furnace. This would provide space for talking or even over flow forging stations
• The theme worked well, and was interesting

CDBA's Participation in AGE OF IRON

• CDBA will be running the "Green Coal" area for all attendees.
• Location is to be changed from under the evergreens to the Center Field
• EZ-Ups will need to be aquired
• Sign-up list for tutors and assistants will be needed since the "Green Coal" area will be in a very prominant location.
• Additional members may be needed to assist Berkshire Blacksmiths with other aspects of the event such as security and cooking the evening dinner.

CDBA has Obtained ABANA Affiliate status

• CDBA is now qualified for scholarships, guest speaker reimbursment grants, and $3/member liability insurance through ABANA.
• "Anvil's Ring" and "Hammer's Blow" articles may now be reprinted in our newsletter without explicit copyright permission.
• Affiliate Liason can contact ABANA directly and instantly update other affliates about events, concerns or questions through an e-list.

T-Shirt sales at January Gathering were good, but have not quite yet broken even.

Membership and Buddy lists ready to publish

• Dan noted that not all "Forge Buddies/Hosts" had indicated that they were to be added to the membership directory.
• Dan suggested that if you were a Forge Buddy/Host it should be an automatic addition to the membership list.
• Sarah wanted to double check with those Buddy/Hosts who failed to be added and wanted CDBA to be a info pipeline for those Buddy/Hosts who did not want to be published.