During the ATBA’s inaugural year, John Schneider made a self bow and called it “Only Yew”.
He donated it as a prize at the new organization’s first outdoor shoot in the spring of 2004 held at Duane Hicks’ 80 acres near Tofield.
This bow was won by Ken Bowden. Ken had the bow for a year and his long draw length made him worried to shoot it, so he he donated it as a door prize for the first official Heritage Classic Jamboree in 2005 near Red Deer.
Yves Blouin won the bow. After a few shots he realized that his bad shoulder would prevent him from shooting that heavy bow for hunting. It was 65# @ 25”. So the bow was shot few times over four years, but was really destined to be a wall hanger. Yves almost donated it few times in that 4-year span, but he finally came up with a bright idea as to what to do with the bow:
At the 2009 ATBA Annual General Meeting Yves presented the idea of using a special bow to be used as the official gavel for the ATBA.
Yves had four main reasons why he liked this bow for that purpose:
It was crafted by the founder the year John formed the ATBA
It was the first donated bow for the first outdoor shoot held
It was a door prize at the first Heritage Classic Jamboree
It’s name, “Only Yew” could be viewed as “Only You”, the President of the ATBA can use this big stick.
Yves attached a few conditions to this official gavel:
The bow should be present at all official ATBA gatherings, such as AGM, Jamboree, etc.
The bow can be used as per the president’s discretion only. However, if broken, it should be repaired to carry on for official display only.
The bow can’t be sold, donated or exchanged. In the unfortunate event that the ATBA be discontinued/abolished, it must be returned to the donor, Yves Blouin.
