Join us at our 2025 Annual Meeting at Wildacres Retreat! This event is the highlight of our year where we gather to build, learn and grow. Our hands-on workshops focus on building better wood-fired appliances. This year offers TWO masonry heaters, TWO wood-fired ovens and TWO wood-fired cooking units. In addition to our yearly technical lectures and demonstrations, stone working workshops will also be offered.
A sliding scale has been set for the registration fee for this year's annual meeting at Wildacres. We are valuing the event as a $750 ticket, but we are also implementing a payment scale of $550 to $950 to help out folks that are in need. For those of you unfamiliar with this system, please allow us to briefly explain...
"We, as an organization, highly value Wildacres far beyond any monetary gain that could potentially come from it for our organization. Our meeting is held in high esteem across the globe as a gathering of trade professionals and innovators as well as a venue for education, sharing and general goodwill. We are striving to keep this experience accessible to all. The cost of hosting our gathering each year is real and continues to grow. The cost of materials used at the workshops, the lodging, food and other amenities we receive from our hosts at the retreat center, as well as the pizza party all exact a toll on the MHA’s budget. Our meeting is meant as a “break even” event for us. Our operating costs as an organization are more so financed by our annual dues and our annual auction. This said, the cost to keep the event going is $750 per person this year. We realize that this registration cost imposes a real hurdle for a portion of our membership that is struggling with finances. We also realize that some of our members who care deeply about our cause and mission may be able to pay a 'higher than average' amount for the experience as a means to leverage accessibility to those in less financial stable circumstances.
We ask that you pay honestly and fairly on our sliding scale of registration costs wherever you fit in, keeping in mind that without a sliding scale the registration fee would be set at $750 per participant. If you are able to pay more, we highly encourage you to do so. Your extra contribution can go a very long way in opening up the opportunity for a new young member, or an artisan that struggles with the financial flexibility to attend this meaningful event. If you are unable to pay more than the bare minimum, we understand your situation and don’t want money to be the deciding factor in your attendance. For those with little more than an extreme interest in learning the craft, we recommend you reach out to our office and inquire about a scholarship as one may be available depending on the success of our scale. Whatever your position may be, we hold no judgement on your situation. If our plan backfires and we receive too many low end registrations to make this system work, we reserve the right to close off our sliding scale and return to a more conventional approach with an averaged ticket price We thank you for your understanding and your continuing care/ stewardship of our organization. Together, we can continue to make our event a truly one-of-a-kind, see it to believe it, experience."
~ Jim Schalles
