Early Saturday morning (4 November), Don Will came over to my house from his residence in Carlyle, Illinois. He then rode with me to Marion Morris' house in Maplewood. The three of us, and two more from IPMS/Gateway, rode in Morris' minivan to David H. Hickman High School in Columbia, Missouri. This school was the venue for TigerCon, the annual model contest and swap meet put on by IPMS/Central Missouri Scale Modelers. Besides the five of us who rode together, seven other Gateway members made the trip to Columbia.
After paying the registration fee, I entered my two aircraft models in the contest. The MiG-19 and the Ryan NYP "Spirit of St. Louis" were two models I had built some years ago, but not entered in a contest. I realistically didn't consider them serious award contenders, but I at least wanted to have some models to enter.
I spent time shopping among the vendors, entering the raffle, admiring the other contest models, and chatting with fellow scale modelers I know. The vast majority of attendees came from around Missouri. I bought a book and kit from a vendor and won two aircraft kits in the raffle.
Late in the morning, I joined with other contest judges for a meeting with catered lunch that featured brisket and barbecue pulled pork. It was tasty and I headed a team judging armor and figures. There were some tough calls to make in judging the categories, such was the quality of models entered in this show.
Four of my Gateway chapter mates won contest awards. The biggest was by Jim Triola, whose 1:200 scale Bismarck won its ships category, Best of Ships, People's Choice Award, and Best of Show.
After the show, most of us went to a Cracker Barrel restaurant in Columbia for dinner. It was a special meal, for this was the last show that Jim Victor would attend with us. He is moving out of state in a few weeks. It was a most satisfying meal with club mates before we returned home. After arriving at Morris' house, I drove Will to my house so he could return to his vehicle to go home to Carlyle.
Early Sunday afternoon, I picked up Julie from her apartment and drove us to Zenhorse, an equine rehabilitation facility in Marthasville, Missouri. It was hosting a photos with Santa event. Julie and I had photos taken there last year, so we decided to do it again. My friend Kit Maxwell, who runs Zenhorse, was dressed as Mrs. Claus, with her son as a Victorian gentleman and her husband as Santa.
Julie and I sat in a sleigh, flanked by Santa and Mrs. Clause. A horse from the facility was dressed as a reindeer. Michelle Huelsman from Unbridled Focus Photography took the pictures, as she did last year. I am looking forward to seeing the pictures come out in the coming days.
After the photos, Julie and I retired to a barn for hot chocolate and cookies. We also got caught up with Kit in our lives.
Then, it was on to the Armory for Julie and I. We were attending a watch party for St. Louis CITY SC's MLS Cup playoff match at Sporting Kansas City. This was game two of the best of three first round series, and CITY needed to win after Sporting's 4-1 win at CITYPARK one week before to stay alive.
Julie had never been to the Armory before and was impressed with the facility. There was a great crowd of CITY supporters on hand to watch the game projected on the big screen. St. Louis City Punks, Fleur de Noise, and STL Santos co-hosted the watch party.
Despite our best efforts at the party and CITY's on the pitch, Sporting won the match 2-1 to take the series. A disappointing end to the season for sure, but it should not take away from such a great inaugural season in MLS for CITY. The better team won this playoff series, but nobody can take away the regular season Western Conference championship for our side.
Later.
Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:
IPMS/Gateway: IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)
David H. Hickman High School: Hickman High School / Homepage (cpsk12.org)
IPMS/Central Missouri Scale Modelers: Central Missouri Scale Modelers (cmsm-ipms.org)
Cracker Barrel: Cracker Barrel Old Country Store | Breakfast Near Me Restaurant | Delivery & Pick-Up
Unbridled Focus Photography: Missouri Equine Photographer/Unbridled Focus Photography
The Armory: The Biggest Bar in St. Louis (armorystl.com)
St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)
Major League Soccer: MLSsoccer.com - The Official Site of Major League Soccer
St. Louis City Punks: SLCP Home (slcitypunks.com)
Fleur de Noise: Fleur De Noise
STL Santos: Home | Home | STL Santos
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