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“Welcome to Maine, the way life should be!” Forty-seven members and guests arrived
at New Meadows Inn in West Bath, Maine.
You know winter is approaching when the birds are flying in the
opposite direction. We enjoyed the
warmth of our meeting area and familiar surroundings.
Newcomers aren’t strangers for long, for Chapter 89 is
known for good hospitality.
Everyone had an opportunity to ponder over the growing display of
auction items, and we all enjoyed catching up on the news.
The 152nd meeting and 34th year
of Maine Chapter 89 got underway at 11:00 a.m. with some NEW faces in the
crowd. President Jim Lea was busy
setting up additional tables for our growing number of items to be
auctioned. Everyone pitched in and
made room for our largest auction ever.
The crew of New Meadows Inn served up some delicious
seafood dishes and some awesome fish chowder. It’s always a delight to fill the chowder bowl. Smiles replaced growling stomachs.
The Business Meeting started around 1:00 PM, led by
President Jim Lea. He extended a
hearty welcome to our visitors and friends of members. Because of time restrictions, we
skipped the customary “self-introductions”.
Sad news: President Jim Lea announced
the passing of Bill Eberly. Bill held
many chapter offices over the years; he was presently serving Chapter 89 as
an Advisor to the Executive Council.
His life as a decorated and brilliant officer in the U. S. Navy will
be celebrated with full military honors at his hometown church in coastal
Harpswell, Maine. Thank you, Bill,
for your vision and dedication to the spirit and outreach of Chapter
89. Joanna McCabe will present
Charlotte Eberly with our condolences in the form of a sympathy card and an
accumulation of heartfelt notes from the members present.
OLD
BUSINESS:
Minutes of the Meeting for our September 2003 meeting were read and
accepted. Treasurer Jim Powers
rendered his report to close out 2003.
The membership accepted both reports.
Looking
ahead: Our January 17, 2004 Meeting will be held at the New Meadows
Inn at West Bath, Maine. Our
program agenda is to be announced.
NEW
MEMBER INDUCTED:
President Lea officiated in the induction of Thomas Vance of
Bristol, Maine. Welcome aboard
Tom!
ELECTION
OF OFFICERS: After some brief comments, President
Jim Lea announced vacant officer positions and solicited nominations. The member accepted and voted on the
nominations.
2003 Officers
for Chapter 89 are as follows:
President
Dennis
Hillman
1st
Vice President
Robert Laird
2nd
Vice President
vacant
Secretary
Ern Grover
Assistant
Secretary
vacant
Treasurer
James
Powers
Assistant
Treasurer
Robert
Merrill
Immediate Past
President
James Lea
Directors:
Creighton
Gogos
Ben Crosby
Carl
McCabe
Non-Voting Advisor
to the Council:
Cal Morgan
show & tell: Creighton Gogos explained
the function of a fascinating Seth Thomas hotel clock. Next up was Jim Powers who showed off a
unique Chauncey Jerome cast bronze front 8-day shelf clock, circa 1853 and
featured as the “Webster” model.
The clock has an internally mounted dial plate, a seatboard on which
the movement is mounted, and there’s a hinged "trapdoor" in the
rear to access the pendulum bob.
Raffle drawing: Barbara Lea won the first
drawing of $20. First lobsters from
our July raffle, and now the big prize!
Luck seems to be running in the Lea family these days. David Smith took the purse of $10 for
the second drawing.
presentation: Rich Mechaber and Sally
Frkonja shared how they became interested in clock collecting and
repair. Rich was locally
apprenticed and rendered his Ten Reasons Why I’m A Clockmaker (David
Letterman style). Sally Frkonja is
on her fourth career, still working and teaching in theater. She was formally trained in a series of
courses at NAWCC in Columbia, PA.
Well done, Rich and Sally.
We enjoyed our insights.
Annual auction: Charles
Fairbrother did more than FAIR at wrangling the highest prices for the
awesome assortment of clocks, watches, books, tools and parts. Partly due to the generosity from the
estate of Jack Gasnier, there was a diverse assortment of items on the
tables. There was a hum of rapid
bidding, and in all, everyone appeared to be happy with the outcome. “What is one man’s junk is another
man’s treasure.”
Invitation: Come
join us at a future meeting. We’d
love to show you some Maine hospitality.
Ern Grover, Chapter 89 Secretary
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