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The143rd
meeting of Maine Chapter 89 of the NAWCC, was held at New Meadows Inn , in
West Bath, Maine on Saturday, May 18, 2002. There was a turnout of 51
members and guests, some who traveled some distance to attend. Thank you, everyone, for your commitment
to Chapter 89.
A
Social Hour was well under way by 11:00 am, and many folks
had the opportunity to chat one-on-one, and view the items offered at the
Silent Auction and Show & Tell.
Luncheon: At 12:00
noon we all enjoyed a served luncheon of Seafood Newburg, Roast Beef and
Pasta Primavera.
Business
Meeting:
President Ben Crosby called the meeting to order, and
self-introductions were made. Ern
Grover, Chapter Secretary, read the Secretary’s Report on the minutes of
the March 16th, 2002 (142st) meeting. Jim Powers, Chapter Treasurer, read the
Treasurer’s Report. The membership
present accepted the reports as read.
Under New Business,
Secretary Ern Grover received information that Past President Margaret
Crane would not be coming to Maine as early as expected due to health
problems. Thelma Boutin could not
attend due to arrangements for her late husband and our friend, Andre.
The
Upcoming Meeting: President
Ben Crosby announced “Sam” Oglivie of Carmel, Maine would be our speaker
for the July 20th meeting on the topic “Church Dial
Restoration”. Our 144th
meeting will be held at New Meadows Inn in West Bath, Maine with a buffet
luncheon.
Norlands
Exhibit: President
Crosby also requested volunteers from Chapter 89 to offer an exhibit at Norlands Living
History Center in Livermore, Maine.
Norlands is a working 19th century farm, with an 1823 one-room
schoolhouse, an 1828 church, the 1867 Washburn mansion, and an 1883 stone
library. President Ben and
Trudy Crosby became associated with Chapter 89 through the Norlands
exhibit, and for that, he was grateful for this outreach.
Award: NAWCC President
Doug Cowan presented an award to Trudy Crosby for endearing service to
Chapter 89. It was totally
unexpected. Trudy has been a
“behind the scenes” person whose efforts might go unnoticed by some
folks. Chapter 89 is better because
of her efforts.
New
Member Inducted:
Director Sam Jones officiated in the induction of Robert Wilkie of
South Berwick to Chapter 89:
Show
N Tell: Bill
Eberly finally “let the cat out of the bag” with respect to the hefty
pocket watch he’s been carrying around.
Now we know he is an admirer and collector of rare watches made by
the Trenton Watch Company. Bill’s
Locomotive Special sports a 23 Jewel adjustable movement, made between 1901
and 1903. In Bill’s words, “the
jewels are as big as cat’s eyes.”
Cal Morgan wasn’t present at this meeting, but had he been with us,
Madeline, Natalie, Sally or “what’s her name” would have been prodding him
to keep clapping his hands so Bill would know where they were.
Ern Grover presented a token gift from Maine to
Mrs. Cowan. It was a slightly used,
but complete picture puzzle of Camden Harbor. It was one place their day host, Bill Eberly, hadn’t had time
to take them. She tenderly opened
the aluminum foil wrapped package in typical feminine fashion.
Silent
Auction: Sam
Jones and Carl McCabe attended to the Silent Auction. A contemporary cuckoo clock drew a high
bid of $35.00. Bill Eberly finally
got rid of his box of nifty dental tools, when Barbara McLaughlin raised
her hand to scratch her eyebrow one last time. Sold! $11.00. Total proceeds from previous meetings
netted $23.00 for our treasury. Now
those aren’t “slim pickins”. Thanks
Bill.
Raffle
Drawing: Trudy
Crosby won the first drawing of the raffle. Luck seems to be running in the Crosby family these days. Bob Merrill won the second drawing. The third drawing, outrageously rigged,
went to Sam Jones. He acquired a
499 piece picture puzzle of Camden, Maine, his home town, contributed by
yours truly. I’d only intended to
purchase ONE puzzle from Ebay.
Being a sucker for Ebay, I ended up bidding on TWO puzzles and won
TWO. The final piece, in the
custody of President Ben Crosby, was auctioned off for 25 cents and taken
home by Sam Jones.
Presentation: Bill Eberly prefaced the presentation
with a brief history of notable speakers down through the years of Chapter
89. Since Bill took the time to
prepare his comments, I wish to put it here in the Minutes. Please bear with me as I read his
important preface verbatim:
*******************************************
[Commemorating our 33rd Anniversary, I will
begin with the reading of the Minutes of the first meeting]
National Association of Watch & Clock
Collectors
The
FIRST GET-TOGETHER of State of Maine Clock and Watch Collectors met from
two until five P.M. on Sunday, April 27, 1969 at Holiday Inn in Portland.
Forty-five
signed the Register representing twenty-one different cities and towns
within the State.
Exhibit
and Mart tables were well patronized and a pleasant get-acquainted hour was
much enjoyed, with refreshments served by the Inn.
An
informal meeting was presided over by Mr. Ralph Haywood who, with Mr. Leon
Grindle, welcomed the group to Portland.
Dr.
J. A. Williams of Mechanic Falls had the lowest NAWCC number of #549.
Several
members, including Dr. Richard Britt of Blue Hill, were in favor of forming
a Maine Chapter. However, after
further discussion it was felt definite action should not be taken until
the group had met informally perhaps several times. The reason for this was to carefully
access the interest of the majority.
[Fifteen
meetings were held over the next six and one-half years before the first
meeting as a NAWCC Chapter on October 26, 1975]
It was the will of the
meeting that, for the present, membership should include only MAINE
residents. [Now we have members in
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Canada and even in Florida]
It was also suggested that
Mrs. Leon O. Grindle, acting Secretary, send a report of this meeting to
the NAWCC Bulletin.
It was VOTED to hold the
next meeting on Sunday, June 29, 1969 at Holiday Inn, Auburn.
s/ Mrs. Leon O. Grindle
Acting Secretary
*******************************************
Commemorating Our 33rd
Anniversary
Almost all of the early leaders
and founders of our Maine Clock Club are no longer with us… Ralph Hayward,
Leon Grindle, Richard Britt, Ralph Wentworth, Al de Vyver, Fraser Forgie,
Willard Vincent, Ted Spank, Stewart Marsh, James Rooney and many others.
Happily, a few of our clock
club pioneers ARE still actively with us:
Jim Bryant was elected Vice
President of the group in 1972, and Cal Morgan was elected Vice Chairman in
1974, and became the first Vice President of the officially chartered NAWCC
Maine Chapter on October 26, 1975.
Among the early leaders, Joe Katra, former NAWCC
Treasurer, is retired to Florida but still a Chapter member, Bob Walker,
master casemaker, and Carroll Morse, expert on tower clocks, were both
early leaders and are still active Chapter members.
The
people who have been associated with our Chapter as members or guests and
program presenters are impressive.
Among them were:
·
William Wadleigh, NAWCC President 1965-1967,
and author of 24 BULLETIN articles
·
Chipman Ela, clock expert and author of the definitive
book on banjo clocks
·
Prof. Skip Smith, author of “A History of
Clockmaking in Maine 1770 – 1900”
·
Herschel Burt, expert on Willard clocks and
curator of the Willard Museum, author and clock expert
·
Kenneth Roberts, [historian and author] who
visited us several times
·
Captain Ray Jones, “Ship’s Bells” tower clock
of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard expert
·
Charles Terwilliger, noted author and the
expert on 400 day clocks
·
Foster Campos, builder of beautiful
reproductions of classic American clocks
·
The Balzers, tower clock restorers and builders
of modern tower clocks
·
Dana Blackwell, horological giant and watch and
clock expert
·
Chris Bailey, lecturer and expert on antique
American clocks
·
Author and clock expert Snowden Taylor
·
Waltham watch expert, George Collard,
·
And Robert Cheney, curator of the Sturbridge
Clock Museum.
But today’s guest and program presenter is unique in
our Chapter history. For the first
time ever, a current NAWCC National President is visiting with us today.
I am pleased to welcome to our Chapter 89 fellowship,
and honored to present to you, our NAWCC National President, Doug Cowan,
and his wife, Jean.
*************************************************
The Meeting was adjourned to
the Program presented by NAWCC President Doug Cowan, “Identifying and
Collecting Carriage Clocks “.
This informative presentation covered from very small to very large
carriage clocks of France, Britain, United States, Switzerland and other
countries. Several members complemented
his fine display by bringing in some of their carriage clocks.
After
the meeting was officially closed, NAWCC President Doug Cowan invited
members to return to discuss NAWCC matters. After a very informative introduction of around 15 minutes,
he opened the floor for questions and comments. It was a privilege to hear encouraging news and constructive
comments with regard to membership and fiscal policies of NAWCC!
Closing: In spite of the drizzly day, it was a
good turnout. The warm fellowship
more than made up for the raw weather awaiting us outside. Cal Morgan would really be upset to know
that he missed Bill setting down his prized Trenton Watch unattended.
Respectfully Submitted,
Ern Grover
Chapter 89 Secretary
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