Lena Braman has been good enough to write a show report for the WCIC meet that was held a few months back. Writing in the summer is a tough task. I'd like to thank her for the effort and contributing the report to Canadian Forum.

The Western Canadian Insulators Collectors held a good swap meet just outside Medicine Hat, Alberta, July 17-18. This was our fourth meeting with the best turn-out so far. It was hot, let me tell you, hot and we're not just talking colours, styles, sales and stories... it was a good, hot, southern Alberta weekend. Dave Spencer, of Medicine Hat, ably coordinated the meet with an annual Toys and Collectibles Show and Sale held on the Viken Ranch just west of the Hat. An eye opener was the "Watch For Rattlesnakes" sign as we turned off the highway. It was a good sunny and hot day, dry and hot. The hotel hubby and I stayed at couldn't get their ice machine cold enough to make ice.

The Toys and Collectibles show was set up in one quonset and we got to set up in the other. Our building had an extra doorway with good light and a very welcome breeze flowing through. Did I mention that it was a tad hot that day? Not only did we have a breeze but there was a concession that did a brisk business on cold drinks and food. Along with the Toys and Collectibles, we got to look at old tractors, tractor pulls and other types of working toys / models. In the afternoon, there was a lively and noisy auction (inside the quonset, our aching ears!) of mostly farm toys. There are some serious collectors of those too.

Back to the show itself. There were about a dozen of us that set up tables with some real nice glass being shown and / or sold, even some mud for us mud-philes. Our group had a good time visiting, trading, comparing, selling, buying and otherwise keeping ourselves busy. We saw some unusual colours, milky glass, cornflower-blue Dom-42s, threadless, foreigns and other rare pieces. The tables were full and had much to choose from to round out our collections.

There weren't that many walk-ins but most came over from the collectibles show to take a look at what we were up to. How many times do you hear these words ... "I remember shooting at these when ....: or "We used to have boxes of these in the barn, wonder where they went?" or (my personal favourite) "What do you do with them?"

From the sounds of it, attendance was down at the other show but even if we spark an interest in one or two new people, that'll be worth it. One young collector, Chris Sweryda, managed to talk his very supportive family into swinging by. Chris is a very enthusiastic and knowledgeable teenage collector from Manitoba. His enthusiasm is contagious and people like him will bring more people into collecting.

Not all of us could stay for the second day unfortunately. On Saturday evening, a number of us ended up at Dave and Arlette Spencer's home for some refreshments, visiting and viewing of Dave's collection. He has some interesting and rare pieces to show and drool over. Personally, I happen to covet the ceramic 190/191-like set he has. Arne and Rod had their sights set on a purple 143, it was special in some way that I would never have noticed.

The general consensus seemed that the show was a success despite the low number of walk-ins. Just a group of collectors getting together for a few hours makes it all worth while. We discussed the possibility of making this the regular venue for the annual WCIC meet. If so, the annual meet would be at a regular date and location and would be much easier to plan for, especially for those that have to travel quite a distance to get there.

Jack Reisselman (page 20, #1) showed up from Bozeman, Montana with some of his family. He had some lovely Canadian glass with him, including some very nice milky 143s. (It turned out that he was the one I got some Mexican fence-post insulators from some time ago and here was my chance to get some more. A fair trade and the two blue insulators showed up in the mail.)

Ken Morrow from Regina was there with his display and fabulous smile. Also from Regina, Craig Boehm, fiancé Chantell (#2) and Dad Larry, had an awesome display with some intriguing colours of 102s. Rod Bushfield (#3) attended from Calgary along with Arne Lazarotto from Red Deer. Blue Dominion-42s, oh my! Rod is also into restoring antique telephones and had some for show.

From Kelowna, B.C., Aiden Morgan (#4) and Brenda Jensen brought along a display of threadless insulators from the Collins Line. The colours were amazing. He had a large jar called his "Tear Jerker" jar of broken bits and pieces with every colour in the rainbow.. Frank Beutel (#5), also from Kelowna, had some great mud pieces. We mud-philes have got to stick together!

Rob and Barb Parker from High River Alb. also had a good selection of glass and ceramics. Dave Spencer and Daryl Heron (#7), both from Medicine Hat, brought a variety of goods, including ash-trays and books. Moosejaw Sask. sent out Mel (# 8) and Fern Bradford with a table full of goodies.

Dinosaur country, Drumheller Alb., was represented by Lena and Dennis Braman. They didn't have much to sell but did some trading. (#6 their table) Their display was on the Joy of Mud and the awesome colours and shapes of foreign glass.

All in all, it was a good time. We visited and shared. These meets are a good opportunity for a group to get together in one spot. For more photos, take a look at InsulatorsCanada.com.

This column's header insulator is an olive green Canadian Pacific Railway Co. CD 143. Photo credit and thanks goes to Dwayne Anthony of CA.

Other News:

Bob Scafe took a moment away from his big (11 + tons of insulators alone) house moving chore to send along this word on the last insulator meet held at his and Bev's old home in Fort Langley BC.

The Aug. 15 show had a good crowd of 35 or so, lots of nice glass and some porcelain, Stars of the show were Bill Baker with his fantastic British Bullers Red Porcelain, and a most interesting Lightning Arrestor. These were strictly show and tell pieces. Russ Paton arrived with some beautifully coloured insulators which found new homes in a flurry of activity. Richard Enns had a number of light green insulators from Chile, although Robin Harrison did suggest they might have originated in Argentina. A number of these now reside in new collections. Everyone had a good time, and we finally shut things down about 8.00 pm . People just did not want to go home. All the hamburgers, chili and corn on the cob just disappeared, as did 2 large boxes of fruit, [apples, pears, and plums].

Hopefully there will be a picture of this nice Bullers in an upcoming Canadian Forum, but with Bob's move in the works, there isn't time for it to meet the publication deadline for this column.

There are three upcoming Canadian shows scheduled for April, May and September, 2005. 
See Coming events for more information.

Feel free to drop CJOW or myself a note if you have anything you would like to see covered in the way of Canadian insulator news or information.

Good Collecting.........Robin

Robin Plewes, Almonte Ontario.   Phone: (613) 256-7638 
Email: robin.plewes@cmcelectronics.ca

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