[Crw-talk] FW: AAW Mailing to William Gautsch and the Coulee Region Woodturners

[Bill Gautsch]

-----Original Message-----
From: AAW [mailto:memberservices at woodturner.org] 
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2010 1:53 PM
To: bgautsch at charter.net
Subject: AAW Mailing to William Gautsch and the Coulee Region
Woodturners


Dear William Gautsch ,

Announcement of Special Meeting of the AAW Membership. Please pass this
message from Tom Wirsing on to all AAW members in your club.

The Board of Directors of the American Association of Woodturners (AAW)
hereby calls a Special Meeting of the members of AAW to be held at 9:00
AM on August 28th, 2010 at the AAW's corporate offices in the Landmark
Center, 75 5th Street West, St. Paul, MN 55102-7704.

The AAW is under attack.  There is a small but vocal group of AAW
members which calls itself the Membership Action Group (MAG).  This
group opposes the Board of Director's decision to request the
resignation of the AAW's former Executive Director.  The MAG has
launched a campaign to throw out the present AAW Bylaws, rewrite them to
suit their purposes, remove the duly elected Board of Directors and
appoint their own board, reinstate the former Executive Director, and
take whatever other actions they wish.  As preposterous as this may
seem, if the MAG can collect proxies from 5% of the AAW membership
(approximately 682 members), they can have their way with the AAW.  This
move, by just 5% of the membership, disenfranchises the other 95% of the
membership, and could destroy the AAW.

The AAW is therefore launching its own proxy drive.  The AAW will soon
establish a web site where all AAW members can vote by proxy to protect
the AAW against an unwanted takeover by the MAG.  We will announce the
proxy web site in the coming days.

The AAW did not wish to engage in a divisive proxy battle.  The MAG has
forced the AAW into it.  If the MAG would call off its proxy drive, the
AAW would be more than happy to call off its drive.  The AAW has no
option but to protect the interests of its members by launching its own
proxy drive to defeat the MAG.  Otherwise the MAG will destroy the AAW
as we know it today.

The AAW Bylaws need to be rewritten.   They have grown up over the past
twenty-five years, are outdated, do not comply with Minnesota law
governing nonprofit associations, and contain many inconsistencies.  The
AAW is currently in discussions with the AAW membership to set up a
committee which will rewrite the bylaws.  The bylaws must be rewritten
in a democratic manner, with input from all AAW members, and the new
bylaws must be submitted to the entire membership for approval by vote.
We cannot allow 5% of the AAW membership to rewrite the Bylaws to suit
their purposes.

Please watch for further announcements in the coming days.

Tom Wirsing
President of AAW Board of Directors