Join / Support
The Many Reasons To Join The M-WTCA
Meetings
With two annual national meetings as well as numerous local or Area meetings held throughout the year you will see why it’s hard to walk away from these empty-handed. Featured at the national meetings are tours and visits to nearby museums, restorations, and other sources of historical impact as well as lectures, seminars, films, and interesting demonstrations of early crafts. Members are encouraged to display outstanding tools from their collections and to bring items for sale and trade. Invite your spouse: Programs for the non-member spouse are also an integral part of these meetings.
The Directory
Our Directory provides a listing and contact information for all members alphabetically and by state. The Yellow Pages include ads from members for tools and services.
The Gristmill
One of the biggest reasons to join the M-WTCA is a subscription to our magazine, The Gristmill, a quarterly publication featuring stories about and of interest to M-WTCA members as well as articles of educational importance written by and for tool collectors. The Gristmill is the leading publication in the antique tool world. A great resource for the collector and user alike.
Monthly Email With news from around the tool world and listing of events across the country.
An online community to share thoughts and ask questions. This is still in development but will soon be the premier location to get answers from the people who literally wrote the book on the subject.
“Benefits to Joining M-WTCA:
1. The Gristmill – The Gristmill is a quarterly publication of the Mid-West Tool Collectors Association Inc. It contains numerous articles on the history, usage, and understanding of tools. It also includes all the critical information for M-WTCA meetings, news, upcoming events, auctions, announcements, want ads, and articles of general interest to tool collectors.
2. Meeting Invites – Meetings are only open to members of the M-WTCA, and the invites to members are emailed out when the meetings are announced. It is the primary method to stay up to date on upcoming meetings.
3. Online Community (Coming Soon) – This will be a forum where you can find information on antique tools and ask questions of the people who wrote the book on the subject. It is more than a group of people but a complete community.
4. Digital Content – Past issues of The Gristmill and other publications will be available online for all members to view.
5. Monthly Email – a monthly “Mini Gristmill” with information from around the Tool world as well as listings of all the upcoming events from around the nation
6. Membership Directory – Often, it is not what you know, but who you know. We publish a membership directory once a year so you can easily find other members’ contact information. This will soon be available online to members only.
7. Scholarships – The M-WTCA offers scholarships to members and their families.
8. The Auxiliary – An important and long-standing part of M-WTCA, the Auxiliary organizes sessions and activities at the meetings allowing your spouse to connect to a community of people that put up with you and your tool obsessions. Many life-long friendships have developed here.
9. Meeting Attendance – All M-WTCA meetings are closed to the public, but joining the association opens the door to a world of tools, knowledge, and friendships that you will not find anywhere else.
Advertise
Making the step from tool collector to dealer? Get your name out there by advertising through The Gristmill, the Membership Directory, on the Website, or through an Email with the M-WTCA. We are a direct link to thousands of potential customers interested in antique tools. Ad revenue supports the M-WTCA at the same time.
Serve
There are many ways one can help out the M-WTCA. But few are as impactful as serving on the different boards and positions in the organization.
Area directors promote the organization in their area of the map.
Write an article for publication. We are always looking for articles for The Gristmill. Whether it be on the history of a tool, maker, or method. Or on the use of a tool, our publication covers an array of topics all relating to the world of historic tools.
Host a meeting. Is there a community of like-minded tool afficionados around you that are looking for an excuse to get together? This is a great way to get a meeting near you.
Word-of-mouth promotions are a great way to spread the word.
Put together a display or give a presentation at a meeting. If you have a collection, we would love to see it and learn.
There are several committees that make things happen. From running the national meetings, to choosing who gets awards, M-WTCA runs on member involvement.
Donate
You can directly support the M-WTCA by donating to the different funds we work through.
The Endowment fund is there to keep the M-WTCA running for many years to come.
The Scholarship fund supports students preparing to go into the field.
The Preservation & Education fund supports different organizations with similar goals.
Or you can donate to the general fund.
Promote
The M-WTCA is nothing without the members promoting and spreading the word.
If you are selling tools, please include a link to the M-WTCA website.
If you have a booth or market table or are demonstrating, we can provide Tri-fold flyers for you to hand out.
You can always join us on our social media pages and spread the word there.
