To Wichita and Back for TrailCon 2022

Before dawn yesterday (15 October), I left home to begin driving to Wichita, Kansas. I was heading to Midway Baptist Church, the site of TrailCon, the annual model contest and swap meet held by the Chisholm Trail Scale Modelers Chapter of IPMS/USA.

After a trip of some 6 and 1/2 hours, counting stops for fuel and refreshment, I arrived at the show site. I brought two models to enter in the contest, a 1:72 155mm M1 Gun and a 1:720 battleship USS Alabama. After placing my models in the contest area, I began to make the rounds of meeting people I know and seeing the other contest entries and vendors. Yours truly was the only IPMS/Gateway member to attend this show. I also went in my capacity as IPMS/USA Region 14 Coordinator.

At midday, I joined with other contest judges for a pizza lunch and briefing. I then joined two others in judging the aircraft entries. There were a few categories with no entries or only one entry, but those with several entries each were scrutinized for how well they were built. After carefully looking over these entries and questioning each other, our team agreed on the category award winners.

After our team judged the aircraft categories, we joined with other judges to determine the Best of awards in aircraft and the other major awards. Once that was all done, those awards were announced to end the show. Category awards were placed with the winning models.

Both of my entries were the sole entries in their respective categories and thus received First Place awards. My M1 won in Armor: Towed Weapons and Missiles, while the USS Alabama won in Ships: Surface Vessels 1/401 and Smaller.

After packing my models and awards and saying my goodbyes, I got back in my car and started the long drive home. This included a stop along the way for fuel and dinner and another for refreshment. I listened on the 101 ESPN app on my phone to the St. Louis Blues game, their season opener at home against the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blues won, 5-2.

Late last night, I arrived home after an 897-mile (1443.6 km) round trip--tired, but happy.

IPMS/Gateway meets this Tuesday night at 7:00 pm at Affton Elks Lodge 2635.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

IPMS/Chisholm Trail Scale Modelers: (1) Chisholm Trail Scale Modelers | Facebook

Midway Baptist Church: Midway Baptist Church | HOME (midwaywichita.com)

IPMS/Gateway: IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)

IPMS/USA Region 14: Region 14 - Mid Central | IPMS/USA Calendar (ipmsusa3.org)

101 ESPN: 101 ESPN - Sports Talk for St. Louis

St. Louis Blues: Official St. Louis Blues Website | NHL.com

Weekend in Downtown West with Julie

Last Saturday morning (8 October), I picked up Julie at her house and drove us to the Schlafly Tap Room in St. Louis' Downtown West neighborhood. We attended a watch party for the MLS Next Pro Cup being played in Columbus, Ohio between Columbus Crew 2 and St. Louis CITY 2. The St. Louligans were there to hold the event, joined by the St. Louis City Punks, the Thieves, and Fleur de Noise. Schlafly provided a free buffet lunch, and we could buy Schlafly beer in the Tap Room.

Julie and I set up our chairs in front of the big screen set up on the lot and we watched the livestream of the match. We had fun socializing with the other supporters. Unfortunately, CITY 2 lost the match 4-1. We were sad about the loss, but happy about the season they had.

After the game, I drove Julie back to her home, before I returned to my home.

The next day, after refereeing some youth soccer matches at the Lou Fusz Complex, I washed up and returned to Julie's house. This time, we went to Centene Stadium, immediately south of the Schlafly Tap Room. We were attending a special event for Enterprise Holdings employees, and Julie was my guest. Entering the stadium, we were each presented with a commemorative scarf.

Wandering around the concourse, we were most impressed with the beautiful, clean lines of the stadium. This is the home ground for St. Louis City SC when it begins play in Major League Soccer in 2023. Julie and I sampled food and drink from the complimentary buffet bars around the concourse and shopped in the City Market souvenir shop.

Julie and I then joined other attendees and took our seats in the lower deck for the evening's program. This was the premier of a new documentary film, "Jack Taylor: The Enterprise." It is about Jack Taylor, born 100 years ago, who founded Enterprise 65 years ago. Prior to the film being screened on the videoboard, the film's director interviewed Jack Taylor's two children: Andy Taylor, Executive Chairman of Enterprise Holdings, Inc., and Jo Ann Kindle. The three discussed Jack Taylor, his life and legacy.

After the discussion came the film. The 57-minute-long film was narrated by Gary Sinise and looked at Taylor's childhood in St. Louis, his service as a Navy fighter pilot in the Pacific during World War II, and his founding of Executive Leasing (now Enterprise Rent-A-Car) in 1957. Interviews Taylor gave prior to his death in 2016 were included, along with archival footage and interviews with family members and historians. The film showed how Taylor's wartime service influenced his approach to business and life. (Taylor would eventually call his firm Enterprise after the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, where he served part of the time in the Pacific during World War II.)

After the movie ended, Julie and I walked out feeling happy and most impressed with what we saw. I drove us back to Julie's house. We stayed and talked for awhile before I left to go home. This was a great weekend for us.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

Schlafly Tap Room: Tap Room Brewpub - Schlafly Beer

St. Louis CITY2: STL CITY 2 | St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer (stlouligans.com)

Saintt Louis City Punks: SLCP Home (slcitypunks.com)

The Thieves: Home | Up the Thieves! (stlouligans.com)

Fleur de Noise: Fleur De Noise

Enterprise Holdings, Inc.: Enterprise Holdings

Centene Stadium: Home - Centene Stadium

St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC | America's First Soccer Capital (stlcitysc.com)

Soccer Weekend: SLU, SLYSA, and CITY2

Last Saturday night (1 October), I went to Saint Louis University's Robert R. Hermann Stadium to cheer on the Billiken men against Atlantic 10 Conference rival Loyola Chicago. There was a good crowd on hand and I found my seat to await the game.

The visiting Ramblers took the lead on 14 minutes and it remained 1-0 until SLU leveled it on 47 minutes. The Billikens would win it on a fluke own goal, when a Loyola defender passing it to his goalkeeper overshot and the ball rolled into the net. SLU took advantage of this miscue to hold on to a 2-1 win. It was an odd way to win, but this Billikens fan will take it.

The next afternoon, I drove to Maryland Heights' Lou Fusz Athletic Complex to referee St. Louis Youth Soccer Association matches. I worked two under-14 matches and had the middle in the first one. The games generally went well, except for a situation in my first match where I had to send off two players for fighting. Fortunately, no other players got into it and the match ended calmly. I quickly wrote out an incident report that was turned in with the game card.

After my games, I drove to my girlfriend Julie's house in Florissant, picked her up, and drove us to SIU-Edwardville's Ralph Korte Stadium. St. Louis CITY 2 was playing Tacoma Defiance in the MLS NEXT Pro Western Conference Final. Before the match, Julie and I enjoyed the tailgate experience. The St. Louligans were set up in the parking lot, along with Saint Louis City Punks, the Thieves, and Fleur de Noise.

Before our match, we knew that Columbus Crew 2 had defeated Toronto FC 2 in the Eastern Conference final that day. Thus, Columbus would host the winner of our match. Julie and I joined with the other supporters in marching into the stadium for the match.

We were singing and chanting away from before the opening kick-off. Our constant chants paid off in the 31st minute, when CITY 2 scored to take a 1-0 lead. Tacoma nearly equalized a few minutes later, but the shot hit the post.

In the second half, two quick Tacoma shots early on were saved by CITY 2's goalkeeper. The home side doubled the lead with a 59th minute score. Tacoma pulled one back from the penalty spot 16 minutes later, but that was as close as they came. CITY 2 was Western Conference Champions. The St. Louligans--including Julie and I--went nuts.

CITY 2 plays at Columbus this Saturday late afternoon/early evening (Central Time) for the MLS NEXT Pro Championship. Julie and I plan to watch the live stream of that game.

I drove Julie and I to her home, where I stayed for a bit to chat before going home--tired, but happy. 

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

Saint Louis University Athletics: Saint Louis University - Official Athletics Website (slubillikens.com)

St. Louis Youth Soccer Association: Home - St Louis Youth Soccer (slysa.org)

SIU-Edwardsville Athletics: SIUE - Official Athletics Website (siuecougars.com)

St. Louis CITY 2: STL CITY 2 | St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

MLS NEXT Pro: The Official Home of MLS NEXT Pro | MLSNEXTPro.com

St. Louligans: Saint Louligans – Supporting Soccer in the St. Louis Area – St. Louligans – Supporting St. Louis Soccer (stlouligans.com)

Saint Louis City Punks: SLCP Home (slcitypunks.com)

The Thieves: Home | Up the Thieves! (stlouligans.com)

Fleur de Noise: Fleur De Noise

2022 IPMS Gateway to the West Invitational

Up early yesterday morning (10 September), I packed my car and headed to the Holiday Inn St. Louis Southwest -- Route 66 in Sunset Hills. This was the venue for the 16th annual IPMS/Gateway to the West Invitational scale modeling contest and swap meet.

I arrived at the show site 90 minutes before the Invitational opened to the public. After helping greet vendors and setting up the club display, I assumed my station at the payment desk. Working with Regina Morris, yours truly took attendees' admission and contest registration fees. I also asked attendees where they lived and how they knew of our event. The vast majority have been here before and hail from Missouri and Illinois. I counted 177 attendees.

During a short break in the morning, I entered my three models in the contest: an A6M2 Zero in Aircraft, a USS Alabama in Ships, and a 155mm M1 Gun in Armor. 

Late that morning, my girlfriend Julie came to the show, along with her daughter and son-in-law.  We all got to chat, and they had a fine time with me and with my clubmate Bill Wagner and Wagner's wife, who Julie knows. 

Soon after this, I went to a pizza lunch and a judges meeting. Dave Roeder and I were paired into a judging team, and we went on to judge cars, figures, and miscellaneous. This year's Invitational had a low turnout of contest entries, so we had categories with only one entry or even none.

I checked my raffle tickets and won three kits from it. Julie gave me her tickets before having to leave at midday, but none of them were lucky to win.

Acting for the club's treasurer who was not at the show, I accepted two IPMS/Gateway membership renewals and two new members who filled out membership forms at our club display.

My M1 took second in the Artillery subcategory--the only one of my entries to place. That made me happy, though there were only two entries in that subcategory.

The subcategory awards were placed with the winning models. A ceremony was held to present the Best of Awards. This event concluded our Invitational. After packing up my models from the contest and the club display, I said my goodbyes to people I knew and headed home. Despite the low contest turnout, the day was a success overall.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

Holiday Inn St. Louis Southwest -- Route 66: Route 66 Hotels near St. Louis | Holiday Inn St. Louis SW - Route 66 (ihg.com)

IPMS/Gateway: IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)

Grand Day in South St. Louis

This morning, I drove to Rooster, a breakfast restaurant on South Grand in South St. Louis. I had breakfast there with Julie Rodriguez, who I first met a month ago. Yes, she and I are in a relationship now. Anyway, we had a nice breakfast--Julie had crepes, I had a pork sausage slinger. Most satisfying.

After breakfast, Julie and I walked up and down South Grand before walking to nearby Tower Grove Park. We went to the site of the Festival of Nations, the annual multicultural festival presented by the International Institute of St. Louis. Today was the second and last day of the Festival's 2022 run.

Julie and I walked among the attractions, including stopping by the Viva Brasil STL booth to talk with the organization's Carolina Holtmeyer. The two of us then walked back to Julie's car, where we said our goodbyes. I then drove to a side street south of Tower Grove Park to park my car before walking to Amsterdam Tavern. I had a draft beer--Civil Life's Vienna Lager--and watched some soccer on TV before walking back to Tower Grove Park to check in on my volunteer shift.

After checking in at the Volunteer Pavilion, I walked to a Drink Booth on the northwest area of the festival grounds. My shift ran from 12:15 pm to 3:45 pm, and it was a busy one for my boothmates and myself. I helped get drinks--water, soda, beer, seltzers, and wine--from icewater-filled tubs to the customers waiting before the cash wrap people. It got hectic at times, trying to find certain items in the tubs to fulfil customer requests. Thanks to the sunny and hot day today--the high just topped 90 degrees F (32 degrees C)--we had many customers at our booth. I'm sure the other drink booths on the grounds had a great deal of business today.

I was one tired volunteer when my shift ended, but it was satisfying to do my part to help the International Institute's mission of assisting immigrants to St. Louis. After checking out at the Volunteer Pavilion, I ordered a bit of Brazilian food from a booth run by Brasilia Restaurant. I got an order of coxinha, fried chicken dough stuffed with chicken filling. It was delicious and really hit the spot for me.

After briefly walking the festival grounds, I began to walk to my car. I then pulled out and drove home. The sky was cloudy when I left Tower Grove Park, but got stormy when I was on I-55 about to get onto eastbound I-255 on the way home. Glad I left the park when I did.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

Rooster: Rooster (roosterstl.com)

Tower Grove Park: Tower Grove Park

International Institute of St. Louis:  International Institute of St. Louis – Immigrant Services & Community Engagement Hub since 1919 (iistl.org)

Festival of Nations: Festival of Nations (festivalofnationsstl.org)

Amsterdam Tavern: Home of Amsterdam Tavern St. Louis Best Soccer Sports Bar - Amsterdam Tavern

Civil Life Brewing Co.:Home | Civil Life Brewing Company Online Store (square. Site)

Viva Brasil STL:  Viva Brasil STL

Brasilia Restaurant: Brasilia Bar & Restaurant (brasiliastl.com)

  

Give Me Liberty--2022 ModelFest

Early this morning (27 August), my friend and fellow IPMS/Gateway member Don Will arrived at my house. We left in my car around 6:40 am for Liberty, Missouri (northeast of Kansas City) to attend this year's ModelFest, a scale modeling contest and vendor meet presented by IPMS/West Central Missouri at Liberty Christian Fellowship.

After an uneventful drive, Don and I arrived at the show site and registered our entries in the model contest. I brought three models: an A6M2 Zero in aircraft, a 155mm M1 Gun in Armor, and the USS Alabama in Naval. After placing my models in the contest area, I bought raffle tickets, browsed among the vendors, and chatted with several people I knew who were attending the show from around IPMS/USA Region 14.

Additionally, I admired the models being entered in the contest. There were some superb models on display this day.

At midday, I joined with other contest judges at a meeting, where we had free pizza for lunch. The head judge gave a short briefing on what we should look for in contest entries, and the judging teams were assembled. I was with two other judges evaluating entries in Gundam, Dioramas, Space and Science-Fiction, and Ships. (I recused myself from judging the category the Alabama was entered in.) Gundam was a large category, with over 30 entries--so many, in fact, that this category was split into large and small categories. Our team judged this category first. I didn't have much knowledge and experience in Gundam models; fortunately, my teammates were more knowledgeable and helped me out. With this category out of the way, we went on to the other assigned categories.

During a break in judging, I checked the raffle table and found that two of the 12 tickets I bought earlier were pulled. I got two kits: one of World War II Italian soldier figures, and the other of the Kfir C2/C7 fighter. Earlier, I won an RF-4C/E Phantom II kit in the raffle. This looks like the $10 I paid for the tickets had a great return on investment.

After judging for my assigned categories, I finished taking photos of the contest entries. (I started taking photos that morning.) These will be posted on the IPMS/Gateway Facebook page. I also shopped among the vendors, buying a small aircraft kit from one and three sheets of aircraft profile paintings from another.

Around 3:00 pm, the awards ceremony began, after representatives from several clubs with upcoming shows spoke to the crowd. That included me, as I plugged IPMS/Gateway's Gateway to the West Invitational in two weeks (10 September). My name was called twice, beginning with my M1 taking First Place in Armor & AFVs--1:72 and Smaller, wheeled & artillery, all eras. In Naval, my Alabama was Second in 1:700 and smaller. I should note that there were only two entries in each of these categories. However, I was pleasantly surprised to earn First Place in Armor.

 

Don earned Third in Figures--54mm and smaller for his Mephiston, a fantasy subject. I was happy for him, and the others I knew who won awards in the contest.

After the ceremony, I packed up my models with the awards and items won or bought. Then, I said my goodbyes to the hosts (thanking them for a terrific show) and walked to my car with Don, who was carrying his packed models.

I then drove off for St. Louis. Early tonight, we stopped at a Wendy's in Columbia for dinner, which we ate in the car in the restaurant's parking lot before heading back home. Don and I arrived at my house just after 8:00 pm, and he then took his models from my car into his pickup truck before he drove to his home in Carlyle, Illinois. My Corolla performed beautifully during the 504.5-mile (811.9 km) round trip today.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

IPMS/Gateway: IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)

IPMS/West Central Missouri: Home (webs.com)

IPMS/USA: IPMS/USA Home Page | By Modelers... For Modelers (ipmsusa.org)

Liberty Christian Fellowship: Liberty Christian Fellowship (lcfliberty.org)

Wendy's: Wendy's® | Home of Fresh, Never Frozen Beef Since 1969 (wendys.com)

Road Trip to Grimes and MIME 3

I was up at 2:00 am this past Saturday morning (20 August) and out the door around 3:30 am. That morning, I was on the road to Grimes, Iowa for the Mid Iowa Modelers Expo (MIME) 3 NNL (Nameless National Luminaries), a car modeling show hosted by the Glue Brothers Chapter of IPMS/USA. 

After two stops for fuel and refreshments, I arrived at the show venue, Grimes United Methodist Church, northwest of Des Moines, around 9:30 am. I would be the only person from IPMS/Gateway to attend this show, and I was also there in my capacity as IPMS/USA Region 14 Coordinator.

For this show, I entered a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28 SS that I built some years ago for an IPMS/Gateway contest. Not the greatest of car models there, but at least I had something for this show. I also brought flyers for IPMS/Gateway's Invitational next month and the Midwest Model Vehicle Association--St. Louis (MMVA--STL) show in October.

After entering my model, I made the rounds of the show. There were several people I knew from attending previous shows in the region that I chatted with, including Mark Johnson from the host chapter. He asked me to try an eggroll his wife made for the food concession, and I liked it a lot. Mark and his wife liked that a lot. I also browsed among the vendors at the show and admired the models on the contest tables.

It looks like a most efficiently run show, with no issues as far as I can tell. A video screen played old drag racing videos and the live stream of a sprint car race in Minnesota.

The raffle drawing was held. I won a pickup truck kit, which I exchanged with someone who had a decal sheet to offer. I accepted, as I didn't need another kit.

Next came Johnson's thank you remarks and the announcement of contest winners. This type of show has few categories, so the awards announcements came quickly. My Camaro didn't win, but that's no big deal. Being there was the best part of the show for me. There were 152 contest entries from 23 entrants.

I packed my model, said my goodbyes to Johnson and others in Glue Brothers, then began the drive home around 3:30 pm. I made a quick trip to a nearby Walmart seeking work shoes, but had no luck, so it was time to go home. Including stops for fuel and refreshments, I came home just after 10:00 pm. The round trip covered 723.2 miles (1163.9 km).

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

IPMS/Glue Brothers: IPMS Glue Brothers - Des Moines, Iowa | Facebook

IPMS/Gateway: IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)

Midwest Model Vehicle Association--St. Louis: IPMS Gateway Chapter - MMVA Page (google.com)

IPMS/USA: IPMS/USA Home Page | By Modelers... For Modelers (ipmsusa.org)

Grimes United Methodist Church: Grimes United Methodist Church | (grimesumc.com)

Walmart: Walmart.com | Save Money. Live Better