Hosted by Debbie & Mike Simmons
The official dates were July 19-20, 2019 but members, as they usually do, started arriving the previous weekend. As the week progressed more and more convention attendees arrived each day. By Friday everyone was ready to "shake, shake, shake!"
Early in the week members toured the area, went antiquing, shopped for shakers in rooms, reunited with friends and made new ones. It was definitely a fun-filled week with lots of shaker talk.
Tours
Mr. Joe's Collection
For many their first stop was a trip to see Mr. Joe's fabulous shaker collection. He had an "open house" Monday, Tuesday and the following Sunday. It was well worth the drive from the hotel.
Kansas City Trolley & Barbecue Tour
Kansas City, MO tours were available several days to accommodate the various arrival days of members. The Trolley Car conveniently picked up members at the hotel and hit all of the Kansas City highlights.
Since no trip to Kansas City would be complete without their famous barbecue, the optional city tour stopped at Jack Stack Barbecue for lunch. It definitely lived up to its' world class reputation.
Belger Gallery
The Belger Gallery held an open house for the Novelty Salt & Pepper Shakers Club Wednesday evening featuring their current exhibit, "Shake It: The International Salt & Pepper Exhibition".
There were two speakers; the director of the gallery who discussed the production of shakers by the artists and our own Cheryl Lenhart who spoke on the origin of salt and pepper shakers.
Another member of our Club, artist Gary Seymour, participated in the exhibit by displaying a few of his salt and pepper shakers. They quickly sold out.
Evening Receptions
By day most people were out and about but by evening they were back at the hotel for the daily, complementary, no-host evening reception. It was a pleasant way to unwind after running around all day and a great way to meet new collectors or to find faces for Facebook friends.
Shaker Shopping
Shaker shopping is why you go to convention and there's lots of opportunities to add to your collection.
Shaker Shopping - Hotel Rooms
You could find literally thousands of shakers for sale in the various guest hotel rooms. There were shakers on tables, shelves, the floor, and on beds. Every place you looked you could find shakers.
Some brought hundreds or maybe even thousands to sell and others just a few. Prices varied. You could negotiate. This is where you could find bargains and rare, one-of-a kind shakers. You had to check them all out to find what you just couldn't live without.
Auctions
Another option for buying shakers is at one of the auctions. There's one Friday afternoon, another on Saturday afternoon and a short one Saturday night. They are a lot of fun and sometimes the bids get competitive and exciting.
This year three people tried being the auctioneer and discovered it's not as easy as Larry makes it look. Ruthie Denney, Virginia Volkman and Bob Gentile can now tick being an auctioneer off their bucket lists.
Meetings
Yes, the convention has meetings. We may be a fun group but we still have serious business to take care of.
Board of Directors' Meeting
The Board of Directors meets all year by e-mail but this is the one time a year they get together in person to discuss the Club's business.
President Debbie Barger
Junior Members' Party
The Junior Members' party is their version of a convention meeting. You can tell by the photos they take it very seriously (LOL).
Chapter Presidents' Meeting with the BOD
The chapter presidents meet with the Board of Directors once a year at Convention. This is when the chapter presidents ask questions, share ideas and make suggestions.
First Timers Meeting
Conventions can be a bit overwhelming for someone attending the first time. There's so much happening and everyone seems to know one another. That's why the Club came up with the First Timers Meeting several years ago to help a first timer navigate the convention.
General Business Meeting
The General Business Meeting occurs just once-a-year when members get together at Convention. The BOD members and Committee Chairpersons report to the membership about the past year's activities and any future plans.
Liane Sousa takes over the Secretary position from Kim Maddox
Ruthie Denney is awarded $20 for winning the Dealer's Membership Contest
Presentations
There were two great presentations this year.
You can find Kelsey's complete presentation on the Presentations page of this website.
Bonnie's presentation will be available shortly.
Bonnie Clark
Chalk Talk - A Story of Chalkware
Kelsey Peyton
A Look Into Plastics
2019 Convention Shaker Unveiling
This year's set was unveiled by Mr. Joe. It is a one-piece political set of Harry Truman displaying his famous newspaper headline.
Saturday evening Pat Wierer was the lucky winner of the #1 gold set
Lifetime Achievement Award
Mary Gelinas is awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by Vice President Louise Davis
With her many and repeated activities and achievements, Mary epitomizes the requirements of a Lifetime Achievement Award and the BOD is proud to present her as 2019 winner.
Member of National since 1994
Chapter Level: Queb-Ont East
Vice President of Queb-Ont the first Canadian Chapter.
Chapter Level: Shakers, Eh?
- Membership Coordinator for many years
- Takes minutes of meetings for chapter newsletter and national newsletter
- Hosts chapter meetings
- Contributes articles to chapter newsletter
Convention Level
- Co-chaired convention in Las Vegas in 2013
- Was on the shaker and design committee for the 2013 national convention
- Did presentation on Bride & Groom shakers in 2013
- Mary helped with the convention auction for many years as well as selling raffle tickets during convention.
- Was instrumental in organizing and presenting the S&P rap at the Novi convention and the RCMP musical ride at the Buffalo convention.
- Mary has participated in many convention contests including the costume contest multiple times as a single as well as double and multi-person. She has also participated in the display contest.
National Level
- Mary was BOD secretary for 6 years filling in for a 3rd term with BOD approval when no one else would run for the office.
- She served BOD president for 2 years
- Mary has also made several contributions to National Newsletter.
General Raffle
Throughout Convention raffle tickets are being sold for a chance to win fabulous gift baskets of prizes. Once the formal meetings start drawings are held to distribute the various treasures.
Costume Contests
The contestants outdid themselves this year. Everyone truly was a winner!
Adult - 1 Person
1st Place
Lady on Alligator
Harold Knust
2nd Place
Shoot-em-up Jake, Dodge City, Boot Hill
Carol Detweiler
3rd Place
Sax the Cat with Saxophone
Donna Leiby
Adult -2 Person
1st Place
Cat Ballerinas
Gary Maddox & Michele "Weez"
2nd Place
Zero & Dog House, Nightmare Before Christmas
Cheryl Lenhart & Phil Mays
3rd Place
Love & Peace Hippie Couple
Veronique Verbist & Rene Springael
Adult - Multi-Person
1st Place
Baseball Players Condiment on Tray
Norma Montaigne, Bonnie Clark & Christy Hammar
2nd Place
Royal Flush Hand of Playing Cards
Doris McGinley, Ada Piotrowski, Katy Piotrowski, Lynn Groll, & Kim Russell
Juniors - Multi-Person
1st Place
Frozen - Anna, Elsa & Olaf
Alexie Weaver, Landon Weaver & Payton Boyle
2nd Place
Frozen - Elsa & Anna
Hanna Hammar & Holly Hammar
Theme Contest
Adult
1st Place
Alyson Nagel Set
Debbie Simmons
2nd Place
Cat Musicians
Josh Weaver
3rd Place
Raisin Musicians
Karen Weaver
Junior Member
1st Place
Boy and Mandolin
Landon Weaver
2nd Place
Beale Street Musicians
Lexie Weaver
3rd Place
Tootie Frootie Jazz Club
Payton Doyle
Display Contests
Each display entry showed a lot of imagination. We're fortunate the members were willing to pack up their shakers, transport them and display them so we could all enjoy their creativity.
Shoebox
1st Place
Happy Birthday Mr President
Veronique Verbist
2nd Place
Instant Prince
Pat Lenhart
3rd Place
All Jazzed Out
Rachel Maddox
Small Display
1st Place
3D Shaker Museum
Veronique Verbist
2nd Place
Seasoning Garden
Kelsey Peyton
3rd Place
Jack the Pharmacist
Patty & Mike McHugh
Medium Display
1st Place
Apollo 11 50 Years Shaking to the Moon
Gary Maddox
2nd Place
Pick of the Chicken Coop
Marcia Oswald
3rd Place
Plunk Your Magic Twanger, Frogger
Norma Montaigne
Large Display
1st Place
When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best
Kim Maddox
2nd Place
Let It Snow, Man
Sandy Sies
Junior Member Display
1st Place
Shaker Zoo
Payton Boyle
2nd Place
Jazzy's
Hanna Hammer
3rd Place
Scaredy Cat Alley
Eva Linton
Next Year?
Rosalie Friedberg, next year's Convention Chairperson, and the Garden State Chapter had fun presenting next year's location - Newark, New Jersey! The 2020 Convention will be the 35th convention and promises to be extra special. You won't want to miss it!
Volunteers
A big THANK YOU! to all of the volunteers. It takes a lot of dedicated people to put on a Convention. The planning begins more than a year before. There's lots of volunteer time needed before, at and even after Convention. A special thanks goes to this years co-hosts Debbie & Mike Simmons who put in many hours of time to make this year's Convention successful.
Passing of the S&P
The last order of business is the passing of the "S&P". A special set is passed from the outgoing hosts to the new ones. It's like passing the Olympic torch.
Rosalie Frieberg & Linda Rice accept the "S&P" from Debbie & Mike Simmons
House Tours
After Convention the fun continued as Mr Joe, Freddie & Betty Hunter and Debbie & Mike Simmons all offered tours of their fabulous collections.
Here's a few photos of the Hunters wonderful collection.
Some Fun, Misc Photos
There's lots of fun moments at Convention whether its dressing in shaker costumes, stuffing in an elevator or dancing in a Conga line. Here's some miscellaneous photos of members just having fun.