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“Welcome to Maine, the way
life should be!” Fifty-five
members and guests arrived at the Richard’s Restaurant in downtown coastal
Brunswick, Maine. Nearly every restaurant in Germany has a
community table called “Stammtisch.”
The Stammtisch at Richard’s was empty, but I could imagine
everything from baby clothes to politics being discussed … and only in
German.
“Guten Tag!” A little wall plaque read “Iß und trinkt
so lange’s dir gut schmecht, schon zweimal ist das Geld verrecht!” (“Eat and drink as long as you have a
good appetite, for twice already our money’s been worthless!”) The German cuisine was wicked good
served by “schöne Fräuleinen”
to boot. “Ja, es hat gut
geschmeckt.”
Don’t bother looking at the receding snow
banks. But Spring is in the
air. The sky was crystal clear
blue, and the sun felt nice and as long as we didn’t look around at the
white stuff. We could handle
another few weeks of Maine winter.
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 Show ‘N’ Tell items, and we all enjoyed a whiff
of “what’s cooking?”
The 160th
meeting and 36th year of Maine Chapter 89 got underway at 11:00
a.m. with some NEW faces in the crowd.
During the Welcome Hour, we caught up on the latest news.
The Business Meeting
started around 1:00 PM, led by President John Hannington. His usual enthusiasm was contagious as he welcomed members and guests
during his opening remarks and asked
for folks to make a “self introduction”.
OLD BUSINESS: Chapter
Secretary Ern Grover rendered a reading of the Minutes of the Meeting for
our January 2005 meeting. Assistant
Treasurer Bob Merrill rendered the Treasurer’s report. The membership accepted both
reports.
NEW BUSINESS:
SPECIAL WELCOME: We
extend a special welcome to John Quinlan of Brunswick who responded to a
press release about our March meeting.
He’s well on his way to becoming a member of NAWCC and Chapter
89. Charles Swift, friend of member
Dennis Hillman, will also be applying for membership. Thank you for coming.
Looking ahead: Our May 21, 2005 Meeting will be held
somewhere great with someone awesome as the speaker.
NEW MEMBER INDUCTED:
President Hannington officiated in the induction of Anne Marsh. Her husband, John, was inducted at our
January meeting. Something must be
in the air, and I hope it’s contagious!
Welcome to the family of Chapter 89!
norlands
project: President Hannington opened the floor for
further discussion regarding interest in Chapter 89 involvement with Norlands Living History Center in
2005. Chair Ben Crosby will pull
this together shortly. Members who
will take part are John and Nancy Hannington, Trudy Crosby, Alex and Jane
Cummings, Dennis Hillman, Ern Grover, Ray and Gail Humphreys. There’s more room on the wagon. We are still looking at offering our
exhibit in June.
Membership
directory: Secretary Ern Grover offered to print up an
abbreviated membership roster containing only information that a member
would hear and see during self-introductions. With each member and spouse name would be a corresponding
picture and town of residence. In
this manner, addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses would not be
compromised.
silent
auction: Several boxes of “stuff” found new homes. Good bargains!
show
& tell: Bob Merrill brought
an eclectic collection of timing devices.
First was a Lux alarm clock with moving spinning wheel, an Ajax stamp company manual time stamp, a Baby Ben alarm clock and a Tork 10 day
mechanical clock timer. Jim Lea
brought a Boardman & Wells Ogee. It was overall in very good condition for a clock its age,
and it’s rare to find one with the original carved paw feet.
Raffle
drawing: Bob Laird won the first draw of $20, and Norma
Collins won the second draw of $10.
Third draw (a book donated by the Hannington’s) went to David
Smith. Fourth draw (A Matter of
Time Puzzle donated by Anneke Grover) went to Linda Balzer. “The grands will love this!” Norma had to leave early and said to
John Hannington, “Have to leave. If
I win, throw it back.” Thanks
Norma.
presentation: Some
of you know of Steve Sanborn from his presentations and workshops at New
England Chapter 8 meetings.
With
Steve's easy and light-hearted look at repairs, he began his program with a
slide presentation of some the "horror" type of repairs he has
encountered in his shop. Whether the result of poor professional work or
the ingenious idea of an untrained clock tinkerer, the slides offered great
examples of what not to do. (Steve has seen it all or at least most of
it!)
Steve
gave the audience a view of his ten favorite tools (and actually a few
more), plus his comments on special materials and practices he uses. Steve
demonstrated special jigs and tool adaptations that he has made. Some of the items covered were simple
types of emery buffs, to pliers, to bushing tools, to the use of a crow's
foot and burnishing tools.
Lastly we cannot forget
the little treasure he acquired from a clockmaker’s widow. It was an Ansonia movement, split north
to south. The strike train that had
been made into a train to run on “O” scale tracks.
Ern Grover followed Steve’s presentation with a tool
Steve forgot to mention. It was a
three-pound rubber mallet to adjust the beat on cuckoo clocks. With all kidding aside, he offered a
brief preview of his tumbling techniques.
An E. N. Welch movement was presented, half of which was tumbled dry
and the other half tumbled in an aqueous media using an ammoniated cleaning
solution and steel Jeweler’s Mix.
For a dry media tumble, he discussed the use of Jeweler’s Mix with
crushed walnut shells and a “dash of Granny’s canning wax” to polish clock
parts. This dry method of cleaning
eliminates toxic waste disposal, eliminates flash rust and yields a very
high luster. Offered as an option
to his customers, it is very safe and kind to parts being tumbled, since
the drum is approximately 90% full of media.
Invitation:
Come join us at a future meeting.
We’d love to show you some Maine hospitality. “Auf Wiedersehen”
Ern Grover, Chapter 89
Secretary
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