On Saturday, 11 September, I helped my mates at IPMS/Gateway stage our club's annual Invitational model contest and swap meet. This also served as the inaugural IPMS/USA Region 14 Contest. The event was held at the Holiday Inn St. Louis SW--Route 66 in Sunset Hills, Missouri. I helped staff the admission desk, where Regina Morris and I took admission and contest registration fees from attendees. While doing so, I asked them where they came from and how they learned about the show; this information was used to help in planning future shows. We had at least 147 attendees from six states, and the vast majority had attended our previous shows.
I entered three models in the contest, though I had no realistic chance of winning, and provided several models for the club display at the show. During the contest judging, I helped to judge armor and automotive models. There were 252 contest entries from 54 modelers, with plenty of high-quality models on the tables. Overall, it was a very good show.
One week later (18 September), I was at Epiphany United Church of Christ in St. Louis' Benton Park neighborhood for a celebration of life service in memory of IPMS/Gateway founder Del Miller, who died from a stroke on 20 August at age 80. It was a simple yet moving service that was led by Epiphany's pastor and included words from Del's daughter Rachel. Several of my IPMS/Gateway colleagues were in attendance. After the service, there was a reception in the church's multi-purpose room. I chatted with Del's widow Chris and gave her the IPMS/USA National Convention t-shirt Del ordered before the event in Las Vegas. I also thanked Rachel for her beautiful words, and chatted with Del's son Jason, who was with his family. Jason and I got caught up with things before I left the church.
The following Tuesday night (21 September), I ran IPMS/Gateway's monthly meeting at Affton Elks Lodge 2635. I lead the meeting in a moment of silence to honor Miller and former club member Lewis Pruneau, who had died nine days before at age 77 in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. After this tribute, I recapped the shows in Las Vegas and Sunset Hills. We also had our Show & Tell segment and began processing membership renewals for 2022.
Early last Saturday morning (25 September), I was on the road to Louisville, Kentucky for the Military Modelers Club of Louisville (MMCL) Invitational. This was held at the Triple Crown Pavillion & Convention Center. I entered two of my models in the contest, which had nearly 500 entries in total. My club colleague Rick Keasey also attended and entered in the contest. I chatted with several people I knew there, including David Knights, co-host of the podcast Plastic Model Mojo; aviation historian Dana Bell, who autographed two books of his that I bought from him at the show; and John Fluck of IPMS/Duneland, who I had known on Facebook but not met in person until then. Additionally, I shopped among the vendors and admired the contest entries. My USS Fletcher model was the only one in its Ships category, and thus earned First Place by default. Keasey had two Firsts, two Seconds, and a Third in Figures and in Dioramas, and his vignette of two World War II German tank crewmen earned the show's Best Vignette Award.
Last night, I hosted an IPMS/Gateway business meeting. All of the other executive board (e-board) members and one guest attended. We discussed our recent Invitational, planned programs for our remaining 2021 club meetings, and talked about other club business matters. This was all done in just over one hour, and then I showed my mates my workbench and model stash. A wonderful evening for us.
Later.
Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:
IPMS Gateway: IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)
Holiday Inn St. Louis SW--Route 66: Route 66 Hotels near St. Louis | Holiday Inn St. Louis SW - Route 66 (ihg.com)
Epiphany United Church of Christ: Epiphany UCC
Affton Elks Lodge 2635: Elks.org :: Lodge #2635 Home
Military Modelers Club of Louisville: MMCL Military Modelers Club Louisville
Triple Crown Pavillion: Jeffersontown | Triplecrownpavilion.org | United States
Plastic Model Mojo: Plastic Model Mojo
