ABANA's 50th anniversary celebration coming to Johnstown

Dave Sutor, The Tribune-Democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
·2 min read

JOHNSTOWN, Pa. – The Artist Blacksmith’s Association of North America’s milestone 50th Anniversary Celebration & Conference will feature not only the organization’s traditional demonstrations and educational presentations for its members from across the nation, but also new activities designed to help attract Johnstown residents to the event.

There will be craft classes, a team forging contest, a gallery, a big tool raffle and curriculum lessons for certification during the gathering that is scheduled to take place from June 6-9.

“We thought 50 means we should do something special,” said Frank Annighofer, president of ABANA, which moved its headquarters to Johnstown in 2021.

ABANA members will get to interact with each other at Peoples Natural Gas Park in downtown Johnstown, where classes and demonstrations will be held.

“It’s at the core,” Annighofer said. “That’s what ABANA is – the blacksmith family, basically.

“These conferences, they give a chance to meet people, not just to read about them in our ‘Anvil’s Ring’ (quarterly publication) or on the website or what have you, but to meet people in flesh and blood, and see what they do, and talk to them, and then after you meet them it’s much easier to pick up the phone in the future.”

Meanwhile, public displays will be set up in Central Park, where the team competition will occur.

Teams of up to four people will create a forged sculpture, wall piece or other item inspired by the theme “ABANA – 50 Years of Forging Connections” in an attempt to win $1,000 for first place, $600 for second and $400 for third.

“We want to show off more to people who are new to blacksmithing because that’s the only way we can share our love for this trade,” Annighofer said. “We need to also share it with people that are not in it, and that’s what we want to do. With this competition, we hope we can get the public in.”

A project will also be created using 10-inch steel rings made by blacksmiths from around the world. The images will celebrate faith, culture/heritage, steel/steelmaking, water/the Johnstown floods, fire (steel making), mountains/valleys/hills, and the Inclined Plane.

The concepts were selected by Visit Johnstown, a tourism promotion organization.

Other groups, including the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies, have also supported the upcoming conference.

“ABANA builds on Johnstown’s heritage in the way it encourages interest in the metal arts,” CFA President Mike Kane said. “To have them locate here and for them to bring their national contest to Johnstown is great for our area in terms of local culture, tourism and in adding to the vitality of our community. We are glad they are here and are pleased to be able to provide them with a bit of support.”