THE FIFTH ANNUAL MERZOIAN BROTHER'S TAILGATER was held among the lush, picturesque Porterville vineyards and orange orchards of the San Joaquin Valley, on September 18, 2004. After a very hot week we were expecting some weather to blow in and cool things off a bit and that is just what happened. Mark, Dianne, and Bob Merzoian spent a lot of time and energy organizing and setting up the nicely appointed, 10000 square foot, professionally licensed valley-formal, outdoor entertainment venue. This pole barn had all the natural lighting that a clear, summer day could deliver and was perfect for our late summer show.

Show Hosts Bob Merzoian, Dave Brown

The pre-show gathering on Friday evening included Mark, Dianne, Dwayne Anthony, Dave LaForge, Pete Fortier, Mike Doyle, Dave Brown, Lou Hall, and the four boys pictured on the back cover of the Nov. issue. After a couple of stories, and some show & tell, we finished setting up all of the basics and went out to La Fuente in Porterville for an evening fiesta. The fellowship was great as usual and everyone caught up on stories of the National and Regional shows, which collections had been bought and sold, and who had plans to do what in the coming months. After a hearty Mexican munch-out we headed back to our respective abodes to get a few winks before the show started in earnest. I don't know about you all but we here at Left Coast Lines really have a problem sleeping the night before a show... 

& Mark Merzoian

Saturday morning came quickly for the dealers and collectors who started rolling in just before 7am. Show goers were treated to fresh breakfast breads and cakes, doughnuts, juices, milk and coffee which were on the house. And they had plenty of space to set up or walk around viewing all of the crown jewels on, under, and around the twenty-or-so insulator tables that we set up the night before.

Trading and selling was brisk all morning and shortly after noon, the show hosts and hostesses were ready to offer the crowd of forty hungry hobbyists a free lunch of pit-roasted, shredded pork and turkey, fresh bread with garlic or rosemary, tossed garden salad, assorted dressings, Bob Merzoian's award winning Armenian spiced ranch beans, pies, and two different flavors of fresh churned ice cream. There were juices, sodas, water, milk and coffee to drink as well. Special thanks to Shirley Brown, Cindy Guthrie, Deedee Hall, and all of the other helpers that made the breakfast and lunch so special!

Cindy Guthrie, Deedee Hall & Shirley Brown

Left Coast Lines (LCL) recognizes that there are many of you out there who like to see who's who in the show reports and we believe that it is important to recognize those who attend and support their local shows inside and outside of the NIA's Western Region. To that end, we thank the following folks for the generous donation of their time and energy that made the 5th Annual Merzoian Brother's Tailgater a huge success.

Pete Fortier, Lou (pin-Man) Hall and his wife Deedee, Dave (I tumble Insulators) Hall, Richard Dawson, our Mountain View show host -- Dave Elliott, Dave and Shirley Brown, Mark & Bob Merzoian, Steve Marsh, Bill & Lulu Harrison, Bud and Christian (Laugh Lines) Willis, Jerry Buckland, Mike and Cindy Guthrie, Mike Middleton, Leif Kloster, Robert Baumann, Mike Doyle, Paul & Kathy Greaves, Bill Heitkotter, Colin Jung, Duane Davenport, Craig McLauren, Jon Kredo, Ron Jenkins, Dwayne Anthony, Dave Hall, Dale Morris, Richard Hales, John Wise, Jules Barad, Bruce R. Tuley, Andrew & Daniel Brown, Christopher Bailey, Agnes, Neil, Rosemary, Michael, and Sarah Merzoian. All of you made a significant contribution to the show and we are really glad that you helped to make it a great day for all of us.

Father & son
Bud & Christian "Laugh Lines" Willis

Once again this year Bob Merzoian raffled off a free weekend in his 2,500 square foot beach house near Cayucos and Pismo Beach and Dianne raffled a limited edition lithograph that came from an original that could be hanging in the White House before long. Yes indeed, we are still waiting for a letter of acceptance from Laura Bush! There were eight great insulators, an ultraviolet light, a framed original, limited edition print of insulators in service, hobby related books, an oak and glass display case, as well as other collectibles which all made up a pretty spectacular raffle.

CD109.5 little Harloe claw and the 
CD136.7 segmented threads, Boston

CD162 style solid red McLaughlin 
commemorative and CD145 SCA GTP

It certainly was a show to remember and we look forward to another great one next year. As soon as this show was in the books we all started looking forward to the 3 Amigos (and 3 Amigas) swap meet in Lancaster, CA which promised to be a whopper. And as you will read in our next report, it "beat the street" as they say in the stock market. The 3 Amigos High Desert Swap was all that AND everything else!

Sea of glass

Lancaster, California Show

Saturday, October 16, 2004 is a date that will go down in insulator collecting lore as the beginning of an era. It is the day that Craig & Sue McLaurin, Jon & Sandy Kredo, and Ron and Lori Jenkins co-hosted the First Annual Three Amigo's High Desert Insulator Thang & Bar-B-Q at the home of Craig & Sue McLaurin. This show is sure to establish a long tradition and everyone felt daw-gone lucky to be there! The dealers began arriving Friday evening which has become the norm for these private-venue shows in the western region. IT WAS SHOWTIME in the Antelope Valley baby!

Pretty forest green CD164 HGCo

Butch Haltman, Dwayne Anthony, Roger Nagel, Bill Heitkotter, Mike Doyle, Dave Brown, Mark and Debra Johnson, Denny Hackthorne, Dave LaForge, Richard Dawson, Lou Hall, Dave Elliott ( our 2005 San Jose NIA convention co-host,) , Mark & Bob Merzoian, Keith Auchter, Don & Elaine Bayes, Jeff Hargrove, Steve Marsh, Pete Fortier, Alec Dyatt, Paul Alleeson, Dave Hall, and Jerry Buckland all had a great show and are sure to tell ya so if you ask.

Three cobalt amigos CD 140.5 courtesy
of Dave Brown and James Doty

Denny Hackthorne appreciates a sparkling, 
dead mint, peacock glower CD151 NATCo.

Quite a few linemen and friends of our hosts, some of whom also collect insulators, showed up at the show. They were Brian Barrett, Mike Bender, Joe and Denise Cataldo, Fred and Norma Flagg, Butch and Geraldine Godde, Keith Irwin, Melissa Kredo, Brett Lawrence, Daniel Matas, Betty McLaurin, Jay Mulvaney, Ron Nadle, Mike Padilla, Willy Rios, Rudy Rios, and Chris Sparling. Add to this list all of the children, friends and significant others in attendance and you have yourself one huge Antelope Valley Insulator Party!

Keith Auchter had some cool power glass

As you might imagine, this Saturday show attracted quite a bit of great quality insulators. There were five CD206 Castles in all of the colors, two CD181 Plutos, a CD317.5 Chambers in nearly perfect condition, a solid red CD162 McLaughlin commemorative, and three CD140.5 blobs! One collector even brought the one-of-a-kind CD102 HGW clear pony with the KCGW /Fairmount style embossed dot for everyone to see. There was a CD164 HGCo in medium forest green, a CD333 Prism in an unlisted green with amber swirls, a CD701.6 Richmond egg in a nice green with bubbles, Steve marsh hooked up with the guys in Tracy, CA to save the last of the big green strains from the electrical yard dumpster. He brought 24 of them to the show and sold out in about two hours. Thanks for the cool glass Steve!

Lou 'PinMan' Hall and Pete Fortier check out the 
light citrine CD122 McLaughlins on a '30s pole top

No western outdoor show is complete without food and the Amigos had the vittles covered. The food was excellent. In fact, all of the ranch shows that we have out here have great chow. Breakfast included coffee, milk, juices, muffins, fresh strawberries, melon, sweet cream dip, honey, and doughnuts. Lunch, a full five-course meal spread, featured juicy sliced beef roast, fresh tossed salad, dressings, veggies, dips, awesome garlic bread and all the fixin's. Desert was just as good. Most folks enjoyed ice cream but there were other goodies to choose from as well. This correspondent enjoyed an ice cream taco for the very first time! 

3 Amigos event staff (I-r) Craig and Sue McLauren,
Sandy and Jon Kredo, Lori and Ron Jenkins

The McLaurin's pool-side deck was covered with and everyone had a comfortable place to sit, fellowship, and eat lunch. What a show! It's happening up in Helena, and in Hugo, Fresno, Porterville, and now Lancaster. The movement back to privately hosted shows in the west has really sweetened the flavor of these get-togethers and folks are none too shy about tellin' you that very thing. This Lancaster show was a testament to the hard work, planning and preparation that the 3 amigos and their 3 amigas put forth. What a wonderful job. Three cheers for the Antelope Valley Gang! Hazzzah! Hazzzah! Hazzzah!

Plenty of local linemen stopped by to buy some jewels for their shelves

Sue McLaurin was the Raffle Boss

Bill Heitkotter from Fresno, California