Minutes
July 15, 2017
It was a “hot time in the old town” of Wellington, Kansas where 22 members of the Great Plains Heisey Club met at the National Depression Glass Association Convention and Show to have our July meeting. After a morning of shopping, we convened at the show in one of the site's classrooms. I'm sure the dealers were thankful for our attendance as our members relieved them of many nice pieces of Heisey.
Ande and Greg Henne were our hosting couple. They reside in Hutchinson, KS and are our closest members to Wellington. They presented a seminar for convention attendees and our members about the use of Heisey glassware in the Fred Harvey House restaurants located primarily on railroad lines. They had several Harvey amber pieces displayed to accompany their presentation. Ande and Greg were also the primary staffers of the HCA table at the convention where folks could drop by to view Heisey pieces, ID items, or just talk Heisey. We picked up a couple of new members for HCA and our club as a result of this table.
President John Mock called our meeting to order at 1 p.m. Fred Meyer, Chairman of the event, came in to welcome our club to the NDGA show. Elaine and Perry, two new members from Baldwin City, KS were introduced and a visitor, Alice, from New Orleans joined our meeting. Later in the weekend, we added 2 more members, Jim and Mike, from Overland Park, KS. Our club now has 46 members from 7 states.
We “passed the hat” to revive our treasury. At the June convention we were pleased to donate $4,000 to HCA's Endowment Fund. That represented dues, lots of sales of Jean Will's jams & jellies, raffle box proceeds, 50/50 sales, and other donations by our generous members. President Mock continued by reporting on convention events including the welcome dinner at the church, the shows & displays, the banquet, the seminars, and the Canal Market Flea & dime toss. There were 19 of our club members in Newark for this special occasion. Everyone felt the Hollywood theme was a great choice and the seminar of movie clips showing Heisey's glassware was a highlight. Our Museum was spiffed up and spectacular as usual – thanks to Jack and all the staff members. Another thank you was given to Jean Will for her donations to the silent auction as well as the banquet dinner's live auction. I bet Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Lucille Ball, and Laurel and Hardy would love to be Heisey members – their 'Vanna' activities during the live auction certainly spiced up that event.
We had Travel Show & Tell where members displayed Heisey they had purchased on the way to Wellington or at the show. Jen Bragg thanked GPHC members for their help at her and Kelly's first convention. We're glad they were able to attend – it's a great experience. A big thank you to Ande and Greg for the delicious treats and beverages at our meeting plus the terrific gift bags presented to our members including Kansas travel info, BBQ sauce, jelly, and sunflower seeds covered in chocolate with rainbow color candy shells. Yes, we were in Kansas, Dorothy.
The next GPHC meeting will be at the Mock home in Omaha, NE on September 9, 2017. Meeting adjourned – off to the show to continue shopping.