Minutes
April 2, 2011
The first 2011 meeting of the Great Plains Heisey Club was held on April 2, 2011 – precariously close to April Fools’ Day – creating a natural them for the event. Nineteen potential pranksters (including one guest) attended the meeting even though many of our snowbird members had not winged their way north yet. We met at the well-appointed Heisey home of Marcie & Eric Bergquist -- although a few pieces of Cambridge were noted, another April Fools’ joke no doubt. The luncheon kicking off the festivities followed the theme when we were bamboozled by colorfully frosted cupcakes in their customary paper containers that turned out to be tasty meatballs topped with dyed mashed potatoes. Fooled everybody!
President Mock opened the meeting and was a theme recipient when our follicle-challenged leader was honored for his service with the presentation of a baseball cap proclaiming “Wish You Were Hair”. The routine acceptance of previous meeting minutes and Treasurer’s report ($1,349.87) passed without foolhardy remarks.
No trickery was involved when Trudy displayed a “Martha’s Moment” idea for a centerpiece of a Colonial basket filled with colorful Easter candy topped with fresh flowers. A page showing a Heisey Kingfisher flower frog in the April 2011 Country Living magazine was circulated and Marcie showed web pictures of Heisey featured on tables at a major Omaha civic event.
Mary Cameron advised everyone that she and Gregg, assisted by GPHC members, would be conducting two auctions for HCA during this year’s convention – a silent auction at the Museum and a bidding auction at the banquet. Mary is soliciting nice Heisey pieces for these auctions as these are major fundraisers for HCA. Let her know if you have some good Heisey to donate for these events – her contact info is on page 2 of the Heisey News. Mary promised a fast-paced auction that will be a proper capper for the banquet at Moundbuilders Country Club. Where else can you have a delicious meal with Heisey friends in a beautiful setting and leave with great Heisey?
Program Director Eric Tankesley-Clarke designed a program fitting for all fools present who thought they knew a little bit about Heisey. Fifty pieces of glass – a mixture of Heisey and look-a-likes – were placed on a table, with individual tags numbered 1 through 50. Each attendee was given a score sheet with numbers 1 through 50 and columns labeled Heisey and Not Heisey. It was a challenging review but great info to help ID fakes and look-a-likes as we are out Heisey hunting.
Ok, we were fooled by a lot of those pieces but for the second part of the program attendees brought Heisey pieces where they fooled the seller by getting great bargains. Some items purchased for a pittance included a #1619 five light candleblock with vase, a Bantam Rooster cocktail, and several pieces of Alexandrite. We all expressed sorrow for the poor sellers. Right.
No foolin’, a long, hard winter had passed since our last meeting and the pieces accumulated by members for Show & Tell included: #1469 Ridgeleigh 8 inch octagon vase/Sahara, #335 Prince of Wales covered table sugar, #1483 Stanhope candlestick with an unidentified cutting, #1225 Plain Band individual covered butter, #433 Greek Key cherry jar, #1567 Plantation five compartment relish, #1633 bon bon, #337 Touraine 1/2 gallon engraved jug, #1183 Revere basket with #364 Vera etch, #1183 Revere candy box with Wheeling D-63 enamel, #365 Queen Anne 14 inch fruit tray, #1216 horseradish with Wheeling D-33 gold enamel, #7068 Four Arch cream, four #1184 Yeoman low footed one handled jellies, #5077 Legionnaire cocktail with amber stem.
We held a lively and successful auction to supplement the treasury – Heisey reference books donated by Eric made the best seller list, as did Jean’s homemade jams and jellies.
Everyone took time to thank the Bergquists for their hospitality and to make a fool of themselves by enjoying 4 different desserts before heading home. The next meeting will feature a Mothers’ Day brunch at the Camerons in Ames, IA on May 14 starting at 11:30. The program will be on Colonial nappies. Members and guests are welcome and don’t forget to visit our website at www.greatplainsheiseyclub.org.