32nd Annual N.I.A. Convention
by Carol McDougald
Reprinted from "Crown Jewels of the Wire", September 2001, page 4
July 4th weekend was "sweet tea" time in "hot-Ianta"
...and if your excuse was "kudzu" couldn't come, you missed a great
show!!
Dudley and Sandy Ellis exuded southern hospitality as they and members of the
Dixie Jewels Insulator Club hosted the 2001 Atlanta national show. The Ellises
worked hard to choose a hotel whose facilities were one of the nicest ever to
host the event. Situated right on the airport grounds, one could watch one of
the nation's busiest first hand. . . and really hear very little airplane noise.
The housing, reasonable food service, show hall and banquet facilities were all
top notch.
The show was one of the most advertised nationals in its 32-year
history. Dudley and Sandy spent hours traveling from Tennessee to Florida to
publicize the event. Just short of 400 people paid admission to the show (which
did not include children accompanied by an adult). Holiday weekends are made
"affordable" to organizations like the N.I.A., however, it does mean
that some people are unable to attend due to a conflict with holiday/family
festivities.
With well over 110 sales tables and some of the best displays
assembled for collectors to see in recent years, the show was a success in my
book! There seemed to be a lot of insulators for sale "on the table
tops" and not a tremendous amount of "under the table" sales. Of
course, there are always some who prearrange their deals and leave early, but
the majority of the sales tables remained occupied until mid-afternoon on
Sunday. You will find several of the pieces that sold pictured in the full color
section.
You will find this report different than in previous years. I have
tried to take advantage of the pages printed in black and white for a wealth of
information supplied by the displayers. The full color pages highlight each of
the displays and some of the specific pieces in them. I encourage you to
correspond with the displayers and applaud them for their efforts. The Ellises
chose to mount one of the "peaches and cream" national show
commemoratives on a plaque which they awarded to each displayer. Also, awarded
by the show hosts, was a set of "End of an Era (CD 262)
Commemoratives" donated by Larry and Mary Beth Veneziano in memory of
collector Lon Holy to Jackie Shaver who was of great support and assistance with
the national show.
Thank ya'll for assisting "the south to rise again"
for another insulator national!
Cover Photo
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