APRIL NEWSLETTER

Carnival Cabin Fever: March 16th…Finally, setting off in search of Carnival Glass! I picked up Diane and we drove over to Gord and Jennie’s. Not the nicest of days…strong winds and blowing snow. The drive to the border wasn’t bad and it wasn’t busy when we arrived. Things are going pretty well, right? Not quite. Gord’s door window suddenly decided not to open. OK, open the door instead. The Custom’s Officer was amused (and friendly). We carried on with only minor inconveniences, like toll booths…just open the door. We had much better driving weather on our route to Westfield and got to Jim and Laurie’s Antique and Auction Centre in good time. Greetings and hugs all around and into the auction room to preview the glass. My list is suddenly growing longer.

We spent some time looking over the glass for Saturday’s sale, items for the April sale and items still being packed for the Keystone Convention. So many great things to drool over. And, one horror…the only known flat Pansy plate…now, just a lot of pretty shards. You really can’t be too careful when you pack something for shipping!

Jim said we should have told him we were coming. We could have stayed at his home. I said I had emailed, well in advance. That was probably when he was having email issues. We should still come and stay. Right, now I get to call our motel for a late cancellation. Fortunately, they were very understanding and did not penalize us for the late call. Jim has some really comfortable guest rooms so we were more than happy to visit and there is the bonus of the great views from the house and all of the great Carnival, and other antiques, in his collection for us to admire.

Did I mention that the Chautauqua area got a little dusting of lake effect snow in the days before we arrived? There was only about a foot left on the ground when we got there. The snowmobilers were pretty much in snow heaven with the extension to their riding season.

After previewing and visiting for a while we set off for Jim’s. We had one stop to make first…the Portage Pie bakery. Between us we bought three of their absolutely super pies to take with us to share for supper. There was another friend, Doug Siska, from Pennsylvania, also staying over and he was bringing a big pan of Lasagna from his wife Sue who could not come this weekend. We had a really great evening with lasagna, a large tossed salad, great garlic bread, a few glasses of wine and, of course, pie to follow.

Saturday morning we drove back to the auction and greeted many more arriving friends. More previewing and a couple of changes to my list and then prepare for the fun. I didn’t actually go with a budget in mind but whatever it wasn’t, I blew it. My little brown box was bulging when we left. Gord and Diane also had some very nice wins, as did Doug. We went back to Jim’s and then we all went out for supper. After that, we finished off the pies. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and chatting. Sunday morning, we sat and watched the sun come up across the lake and then headed for home until our next trip. We almost had an uneventful drive, but, within half an hour of reaching Gord and Jennie’s, we encountered a little traffic congestion on the QEW. Unfortunately, the van driving in the lane next to us wasn’t paying enough attention. He stood on his brakes, nosedived, fishtailed pretty dramatically, smacked both corners of his vehicle against the median wall and half tore off his rear bumper. The remainder of our drive was much calmer.

After the sale, I was pretty much catching up with stuff and getting ready for Diane’s Meeting on the 24th. I picked out Carnival for Show and Tell, finalized my Consignment items for this year’s Auction and wrote and organized my notes for the Meeting. I was also in touch with several Members about discussion points for the Meeting. Last but not least, get a pie and a loaf of French bread for the meal.

Unfortunately, several Members had to send their regrets for various reasons so we had a very small get together. We did talk about this year’s Convention and Auction; our current lack of a website and other technical items. One major concern is Pam’s workload. She has an insane schedule, mostly away from home and has great difficulty finding time to work on the Newsletter. She really needs help. Possibly, we may need to find a new Newsletter Editor!!! This really is a major issue.

For a small group, we brought a really great selection for Show and Tell as well as early consignments for the Auction. Tim was kept busy taking photos. We also brought lots of extras to go with Diane’s great food so, of course, we ate too well and enjoyed every bite. We spent a little more time chatting and then all set off for home.

On Tuesday, the 28th, I rode with Diane to Steve Pritchard’s auction. We chatted with him about our Auction and some of our technical concerns. There was a small selection of Carnival which we checked out and then decided to stay for at least part of the auction. While we were previewing, we chatted with Mark Wilson who was also attending the sale. The Carnival brought not unreasonable prices but we didn’t buy any ourselves.

Since then, I have been puttering around, chatting with Carnival friends and getting ready for the next auction trip. I’ve been picking out pieces for the next two Show and Tells. I read the Hooked on Carnival online mailing list every morning and I have been following the tale that started out as helping someone, with no knowledge, value and sell inherited Carnival glass and then turned into identifying and trying to trace a stolen collection. A number of the pieces were sold on eBay and hopefully they will be recovered and returned to the owner.

I have also been working on my Newsletter fluff. No matter how proactive I try to be, I can’t write without a deadline. Procrastination Rules! Got it done in spite of me. I’m hoping to see many of you at the April Meeting at Tim’s. Take care all.