by Ruthie Denney & the Heartland Chapter
The official dates were July 20-23, 2023 but members started arriving the previous weekend to enjoy all the rich history of Springfield, Illinois and hang out with new and old friends. As the week progressed more and more convention attendees arrived each day. Everyone had a wonderful time all week and extensive salt and pepper shaker talk occurred.
Pre-Convention Activities
Although there were no "official" club sponsored pre-convention group tours or activities, many club members did sightseeing and learned abundance history about Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln Museum, Lincoln's Cabin, etc.
Pre-Convention Shaker Rooms - Buying & Selling
Another BIG reason to get to convention earlier in the week is to see all the shaker rooms that club members fill with their shakers for sale. Come early to pick up the best deals and find the hidden treasures. Even if you couldn't arrive early, with 58 sellers at this years convention, there were great shakers for everyone.
Convention Officially Begins
Thursday July 20th, 2023:
Raffle Basket Room
Although donations for the raffle baskets had been pouring in all week long, and our club organizers had been busy setting up throughout the week, Thursday was the first official time that attendees could see the loot for themselves. Many raffle tickets were already sold and placed into their boxes in the hopes they'd be drawn in the next couple days. Thank you for all the wonderful donations and thank you for all the volunteers setting up, selling tickets, running the raffles, and more.
First Timer's Reception
This year we had 13 first time convention attendees. Every year on the first day of convention on Thursday we have a reception in their honor. Everyone has fun getting to know people and this is an opportunity for first timers to get all their convention related questions answered.
Kids Party
Eleven kids/junior members were present at the convention this year. Melissa Weaver hosted the kids party which was a Hawaiian luau theme. They ate pizza, played competitive short games (boys versus girls), and got prizes. After the party many of the junior members went swimming.
Friday July 21th, 2023:
Presentation
Once the convention was underway Friday morning, Debbie Barger treated us to a presentation about Halloween salt and pepper shakers.
Costume Contest
Friday afternoon was the most anticipated event - the costume contest. There were so many wonderful costumes to enjoy. And they certainly entertained us. The preparation began in the back room as the contestants got all dressed up.
Adult One Person
2nd Place
Snowman with Christmas Lights
Donna Leiby
Lady in Barrel Bath
Alecia Lloyd
1st Place
Marilyn Monroe
Harald Knust
3rd Place
Squirrels on S&P Tree
Jenny Hauk
Adult Two Person
1st Place
Viking Warrior & Wench
Ron and Sara Nickerson
2nd Place
Dinosaur Magnet Set
Cheryl Lenhart and Phil Mays
3rd Place
Fred Flintstone & Barney Rubble
Michele Wenztel and Gary Maddox
Golden Girls
Rachel Maddox and Christie Hammar
Ghost & Tombstone
Dan and Judy Parks
Adult Multi Person
1st Place
Lock, Shock, & Barrel
Bob and Kate Gentile and Mary Gelinas
Junior One Person
1st Place
Hannah Hammar
Jack-in-the-box
Junior Multi Person
1st Place
Heart Faced Frog & Mushroom
Milo and Killian Hauk
2nd Place
The Three Little Pigs
Payton Boyle and Alexie and Landon Weaver
Display Contests
Directly below is a running gallery of all the wonderful displays created by our creative members. They all deserve applause for their efforts, but only the top three displays in each category could win.
Little Box Display (formerly Shoebox Display)
1st Place
The Saloon
by Michelle Wenztel
2nd Place
It is Coming - It's Not Halloween
by Marcia Oswald
3rd Place
Fishing
by Cheryl Lenhart
Additional Runner-Up Little Box Displays
Small Display
1st Place
Lake Superior
by Marilyn Indahl
2nd Place
Shaker Shark Fest
by Trish Claar
3rd Place
Graveyard
by Christy Hammar
Additional Runner-Up Small Displays
Medium Display
1st Place
2nd Place
Spring into a Field of Corny Shakers
by Josh Weaver
3rd Place
Hoppy Easter
by Sandy Sies
Large Display
1st Place
It's A Small World
by Kim Maddox
2nd Place
Turtle Races Today
by Marlene Pawlikowski
Junior Member Display
1st Place
Disney Princess Ball
by Payton Boyle
2nd Place
Girl Scouts Camp
by Hanna Hammar
3rd Place
Tinkerbell in Drawer Through Keyhole
by Alexie Weaver
4th Place
Humans Winning Race to Moon Over Aliens
by Landon Weaver
Shaker Theme Contest
Every year at convention, attendees enter a shaker from their collection that they believe best represents that years theme. The theme this year was "Spring into a Field of Shakers". That theme left the field (no pun intended) wide open - we had shakers with metal springs, the Spring season related shakers, and of course corn shakers. Junior members got into the action as well.
Adult Theme Contest
1st Place
Campbell Kids on Springs
Submitted by Marcia Oswald
2nd Place
The M&Ms Spring Picnic
Submitted by Harald Knust
3rd Place
Bobblehead Christmas Dogs
Submitted by Tom Neary
Junior Member Theme Contest
1st Place
Anthropomorphic Corn
Submitted by Landon Weaver
2nd Place
Tweety Bird & Bumblebee on Flower
Submitted by Alexie Weaver
3rd Place
Cats in Flower Baskets
Submitted by Sophia Warthen
Saturday July 22th, 2023:
Lifetime Achievement Award
Congratulations to Josh Weaver for earning and being recognized for all his dedication to the club over his many years of membership.
Convention Set Unveiling
Next, Joe Gaydos, chair of the convention set, revealed to a very pleased crowd the wonder convention set which speaks for itself.
Presentation
On Saturday, Marcia Oswald inspired cooking with a presentation about chef salt and pepper shakers.
2024 Convention Presentation
In the afternoon as the anticipation builded, we were finally told where the 2024 convention would be held - Josh Weaver would be chairing the 39th Annual Novelty Salt & Pepper Shakers Club Convention in Canton, Ohio.
Josh told us to start training, that is shaker training, for next year's Shaker Decathlon which will be held during the 2024 convention. Sounds like fun!
If you missed Josh's presentation announcing the 2024 convention, please check out a pdf version of the slideshow by clicking here.
Banquet & Entertainment
The convention culminated with our Saturday evening banquet which was attended by none other than Abraham Lincoln and his wife Mary Todd. President Lincoln and Mary were played by long time actors and they put on an act for the entertainment portion of the program. Their performance was both entertaining and educational.
After the party, all the winners of the contests were announced and the official S&Ps were passed to next year's convention chairperson Josh Weaver.
