A Saturday in Maplewood and at CITYPARK with Julie

Early yesterday morning (23 March), I picked up Julie from her apartment and we went to downtown Maplewood. The city was holding its annual Coffee Crawl event, in which downtown merchants offered samples of coffee or coffee-related items to participants.

Julie and I went on the Early Riser Tour, which began at 8:30 a.m. (There was a later tour during midday. After getting our tickets, we began going to the nine establishments taking part in the tour. As we got our samples, someone at each stop would mark our ticket to prove we had visited that particular place. Additionally, the Crawl offered ticket holders discounts on merchandise from other area shops. Julie and I took advantage of this to visit five of the 12 participating merchants. I bought a candle from Maven Bath and Candle Co. and a book from The Book House using the event's discounts.

We got through the tour by approximately 10:30 a.m. and I took Julie back to her apartment before going home. I stopped by Office Depot to get some home office items and browsed at Schaefer's Hobby Shop before returning home for lunch.

Late that afternoon, I returned to Julie's place to pick her up and take her to downtown St. Louis for St. Louis CITY SC's match against DC United at CITYPARK. After parking in a lot south of Enterprise Center, we walked approximately 0.5 mile (0.8 km) to "Louligan Street" (21st Street between Locust and Olive) for the St. Louligans Pre-Match Street Party. Julie and I each got dinner from a Schlafly good tent and I got a Schlafly Supporter Session Hazy Pale Ale from a beer tent.

We also bought Schlaffle raffle tickets from the St. Louligans and also a St. Louligans button. Raffle and merchandise sales that night benefitted the St. Louligans' Charity du Jour, Colorectal Cancer Alliance. I got lucky as one of my raffle tickets was drawn. I selected one of two prize packages: two replica jerseys (Norwich City Josh Sargent replica and Inter Milan), some Fulham FC magnetic buttons, and a $50 Mission Taco Joint gift card.

Soon after the raffle, it was time for prepare for the march into CITYPARK. Julie and I joined in the chanting on Louligan Street before the supporters marched into the stadium for the match.

After arriving inside CITYPARK, Julie and I found places in the Supporter Section to watch the match. Prior to kickoff, St. Louis soccer legend Lori Chalupny brought out the kickoff ball and then walked to the Supporter Section to wave one of the giant flags there.

 

The match was uneven, with players having problems putting passes together. Fortunately, Josh Yaro connected in the 19th minute to put CITY ahead. 

However, DC United tied it up two minutes later and took the lead in the 28th minute. In the second half, both teams made efforts to score, but CITY would equalize on a Joao Klauss penalty in the 70th minute. DC United and CITY got into each other's faces in the late going, with several cautions issued. Even with over 10 minutes added to the second half, neither side could score, and the match ended drawn at 2 apiece. CITY remained undefeated in the first five games of the season.

Julie and I each picked up a team poster on the way out of CITYPARK and walked back to my car. I then took her back home before taking myself back home. It was quite a terrific day for us.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in this Post:

Maplewood Coffee Crawl: Coffee Crawl (cityofmaplewood.com)

Maven Bath and Candle Co.: Maven Bath & Candle Co. – Maven Bath & Candle Co. (mavenstl.com)

The Book House: The Book House - 7352 Manchester Rd., St. Louis | Located in historic downtown Maplewood, a browser's paradise - expect the unexpected (bookhousestl.com)

Office Depot: Office Depot OfficeMax | Official Online Store

Schaefer's Hobby Shop: Hobby, Beads, R.C. Cars - Schaefer's Hobby Shop - St. Louis, Missouri (schaeferhobby.com)

Schlafly Tap Room: Tap Room Brewpub - Schlafly Beer

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

CITYPARK: CITYPARK | St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

Colorectal Cancer Alliance: Colorectal Cancer Alliance

St. Louis CITY SC: St. Louis CITY SC (stlcitysc.com)

Christmas 2021

Entering this past week, I didn't feel much Christmas spirit. Uncertainty about the future and my present situation had me feeling low. A few friends tried to cheer me up. We'll see how that goes.

Last Tuesday night (21 December), I went to the monthly IPMS/Gateway meeting at the Affton Elks Lodge. We had voting for next year's club officers and for this year's Stroup Award (Member of the Year). I was reelected President by acclamation, as no one else was nominated for the post. I am happy to serve another year as club president. The Stroup Award will be presented at next month's meeting. I am one of the three nominees for that honor.

We also had a buffet dinner, with entrees from Smokee Mo's BBQ and sides provided by club officers. (I brought some cupcakes from Schnucks.) We also had the annual Recognition Contest, in which we had to guess the war movie from the theme music. I got 20 of 23 correct for the best score of the night and earned a $10 gift card from Schaefer's Hobby Shop.

Finally, we had the big kit raffle, in which all members had a chance to win a model kit. With my winning ticket, I selected a kit of the German battleship Tirpitz.

After the rental branch closed early on Christmas Eve (24 December), I drove to Super Smoker's BBQ in Affton to pick up a Christmas Eve dinner my brother Doug ordered for my mom and me. It was delicious, featuring sliced turkey, green beans, and potatoes. 

Up the next morning, my mom and I went to the Christmas tree set up in our living room to open some presents. I bought mom a pair of slippers, which she greatly appreciated. I received from mom and my brother Rick several books, including five from Rick's employer, the History Press. I also received a book I ordered from the National Museum of the United States Air Force's gift shop about the XB-35 and YB-49 flying wing bombers, and a large book with maps of key battles over the centuries.

Midday today, I was at Olympia Athletics & Events Centre in St. Charles to referee St. Louis Youth Soccer Association (SLYSA) futsal matches. These three matches were with under 9 boys' teams, and I worked them solo. I had not refereed futsal in about two years and was concerned I would be rusty, but fortunately all the matches went well. I hope to work some more futsal matches in the season, which runs until early February.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

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

Affton Elks Lodge 2635: Elks.org :: Lodge #2635 Contact Us

Smokee Mo's BBQ: Smokee Mo's St Louis BBQ Restaurant - Best Meat & Vegan BBQ (smokeemosstlouisbbq.com)

Schnucks: Home | Schnucks

Schaefer's Hobby Shop: Schaefer's Hobby Shop - Arts, Crafts, Beads, & R/C | Schaefers (schaeferhobby.com)

Super Smokers BBQ: BBQ + Cajun | Affton St. Louis | Super Smokers’ Newest Location

The History Press-Arcadia Publishing: The History Press (arcadiapublishing.com)

The Air Force Museum Store: The Air Force Museum Store Air Force Museum Store

Olympia Athletics & Events Centre: Olympia Athletics Events

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

Slamming Together a Flying Saucer Model

Last night (20 July), I went from work in Ellisville to Affton Elks Lodge 2635. I was running the IPMS/Gateway monthly meeting, which featured this month SLAM FEST. Starting promptly at 7:00 pm, attendees had two hours to assemble and finish a model kit. (No pre-painted items allowed.) In scale modeling, rapidly putting together a kit without regard for fit and finish is called slamming a kit.

Four members took up the challenge, including myself. The previous weekend, I found a kit for this contest while shopping at Schaefer's Hobby Shop. It was the Polar Lights release of a Flying Saucer, as depicted in the 1959 movie "Plan 9 from Outer Space." (According to Scalemates, this kit--originally issued by Lindberg in 1951--was in 1:48 scale.)

Promptly at 7:00 pm, SLAM FEST began and I got to work. This kit had ten total parts, counting the two-part display stand. I put it together within 15 minutes, with several parts not used--an alien figure under the dome and jet engine pods in the upper aft section. Looking at pictures of the flying saucers in the movie, the dome was painted over in silver, so the alien figure was not needed. Also, the saucers didn't have the jet pods, so I did not install these parts and filled in their mounting holes with super glue.

I brush painted Silver paint on the flying saucer but needed two coats to adequately cover the parts. I needed approximately 15 minutes between coats. I used Tamiya's acrylic paints, which dried quickly and easily washed with water. Just over one hour after starting the kit, my flying saucer model was done and on its display stand.

I milled about the meeting room, watching the three other models in the contest come together. They were completed in time for the contest judging to begin.

Just after 9:00 pm, meeting attendees began to cast their votes for the SLAM FEST entries in a people's choice contest. Each voter ranked the top three entries on his ballot before turning it in to the contest Chairman, Bill Wagner, who counted the votes. My flying saucer just missed third place in the contest. The top three vote getters--an AH-64 Apache helicopter, a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter, and a Space Ship built from various aircraft parts--earned for their builders gift cards from Schaefer's/

Despite not winning, I really had fun with SLAM FEST, and that was the point of the night. We scale modelers are usually fixated by taking our time getting the fit and finish right on our models. Because of this focus, we can lose sight that this is a hobby and it should be fun. 

IPMS/Gateway meets in two weeks, on 3 August, due to the IPMS/USA National Convention in Las Vegas starting the day after our regular meeting date. A seminar on model contest judging will be held at the next meeting.

Later.

Weblinks of entities mentioned in this post:

Affton Elks Lodge 2635: Elks.org :: Lodge #2635 Home

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

Schaefer's Hobby Shop: Schaefer's Hobby Shop - Arts, Crafts, Beads, & R/C | Schaefers (schaeferhobby.com)

Polar Lights Models: Polar Lights | Round2 (round2corp.com)

"Plan 9 from Outer Space" on IMDB: Plan 9 from Outer Space (1957) - IMDb

 Scalemates: Scalemates, scale modeling database | stash manager

Tamiya USA: Tamiya USA

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

2020 Small Business Saturday; Christmas Tree is Trimmed

 

Yesterday (28 November), after a nice Thanksgiving holiday two days before, I mostly hung out at home. That afternoon, I received in my mail a large envelope from my IPMS/Gateway (IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)) colleague Rick Keasey It had some club flyers Keasey designed and printed off for me. (He finalized the flyer design after the IPMS/Gateway business meeting this past Tuesday night.) 

I took these flyers, along with some flyers advertising the 2021 IPMS/USA National Convention (2021 IPMS USA NATIONAL CONVENTION (natslv2021.com)) in Las Vegas, to four St. Louis area hobby shops. In order of my visit, these shops are: Checkered Flag Hobby Country (Checkered Flag Hobby Country) in Mehlville; Schaefer's Hobby Shop (Schaefer's Hobby Shop - Arts, Crafts, Beads, & R/C | Schaefers (schaeferhobby.com)) in Sappington; North Central Hobbies (North Central Hobby (nchobby.net)) in Overland; and, Mark Twain Hobby Center (Mark Twain Hobby Center (hobby1.com)) in St. Charles.

 

At each stop, I also made a small purchase--usually of model paint or a paint brush--to support these shops on Small Business Saturday. Also, making these purchases makes it easier to get the stores' cooperation in displaying our flyers for their customers to look at and hopefully pick up. I and IPMS/Gateway's e-board felt it was important that we get these flyers out to the shops with the start of the Holiday shopping season. Of course, it will be seen how much foot traffic is in these shops with the pandemic restrictions in place for the time being.

IPMS/Gateway's meeting scheduled for 17 November was cancelled, when Affton Elks Lodge 2635 (Elks.org :: Lodge #2635 Home) closed the hall to us due to these restrictions. Hopefully, the restrictions will be eased in time for our scheduled meeting on 15 December.

Today, after lunch, I helped my mother to decorate the Christmas tree in our living room. (The tree was put up on Thanksgiving.) We installed a strand of lights around the tree, then hung up ornaments from our collection. Mom and I also put up  a Nativity scene and some other Christmas decorations in our house.

 

Back to work tomorrow morning.

Later.

 

Slamming a MiG-15 Kit for IPMS Gateway

Last night (21 July), I drove after work to Affton Elks Lodge 2635 (https://www.elks.org/lodges/ContactUs.cfm?LodgeNumber=2635) for this month's meeting of IPMS/Gateway (https://sites.google.com/view/ipmsgatewaychapter/home). This meeting featured the club's annual SlamFest, in which participants had two hours to assemble and finish a model kit.

I brought a Hobby Boss (http://www.hobbyboss.com/) 1:72 scale MiG-15bis kit that I bought the previous Saturday from Schaefer's Hobby Shop (http://schaeferhobby.com/). Promptly at 7:00 pm, SlamFest began. The kit was rather simple to assemble, and the color scheme (overall natural metal) was simple.

I was able to finish this kit by 9:00 pm, though it was the sort of kit that would have been come out much nicer had I spent more time on it. Still, it was fun to do and I was able to enter this with the six other models completed in a people's choice contest.

Meeting attendees wrote down the entry numbers of the three models they thought were best in this contest, and the results were tallied. Mine did not crack the top three, which earned their builders gift certificates ($20 for First Place, $10 each for Second and Third) from scalehobbyist.com (https://www.scalehobbyist.com/index.php). I had no quarrels about the result, though. This was a fun night.

Later.

Labor Day Weekend 2018

Up early Saturday morning (1 September), I turned to KTVI Channel 2 (https://fox2now.com/), for two of my IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) colleagues, Bill Wagner and Rick Keasey, were appearing on "Fox 2 News in the Morning." There, they and the anchorman talked about scale modeling, our club, our Invitational this Saturday (8 September), and our raffle there to benefit Toys for Tots (https://bridgeton-mo.toysfortots.org/local-coordinator-sites/lco-sites/default.aspx). It was an approximately four minute segment, and I thought it went great. It will be interesting to see how many people come to the show based on that segment.

Then, I went to work at the rental branch that morning. We had some business from people wanting vehicles for the Labor Day Weekend, but it wasn't too busy, and I was able to leave just after closing time at 1:00 pm. Usually, I would be there until close to 2 pm on a Saturday, staying to help clean up vehicles on our lot.

After grabbing lunch at Jet's Pizza (http://jetspizza.com/) in Ballwin, I came home to relax. Later, I ran off flyers for the IPMS/Gateway Invitational, which I took to both Checkered Flag Hobby Center (https://checkeredflaghobby.com/) and Schaefer's Hobby Shop (http://schaeferhobby.com/).

Late Sunday morning, I was at World Wide Technology Soccer Park (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/soccerpark) to referee matches at the Gallagher Friendlies youth tournament (https://slsgsoccer.demosphere-secure.com/tournaments/gallagher-friendlies). I worked three under-12 matches, including the middle on the first one of the set. They went well, despite the heat (we took water breaks midway through each half of these matches). They were fun matches to do.

Monday (3 September), the Labor Day holiday, I went to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church in St. Louis' Central West End for the final day of its annual Greek Festival (http://www.opastl.com/). It's always a great time, and this was no exception. I got a nice lunch--shish-kababs and rice pilaf--and then enjoyed watching Greek dancers perform. I also toured the sanctuary while a priest talked about the Orthodox Church and this congregation. It was a most interesting presentation. After a dessert of loukoumades, I headed home.

Back to work yesterday, it was quite a busy day, thanks to all the returns off the holiday weekend. We got things handed well, tough, and I was on my way home by 6:20 pm.

Off work today, I did some work on a model I am working on for the contest this Saturday. I went to the show venue, the Holiday Inn St. Louis SW--Route 66 (https://www.holidayinn.com/hotels/us/en/st-louis/stlsw/hoteldetail?qAdlt=1&qBrs=6c.hi.ex.rs.ic.cp.in.sb.cw.cv.ul.vn.ki.va.sp.nd.ct&qChld=0&qFRA=1&qGRM=0&qIta=99504425&qPSt=0&qRRSrt=rt&qRef=df&qRms=1&qRpn=1&qRpp=20&qSHp=1&qSmP=3&qSrt=sBR&qWch=0&srb_u=1&icdv=99504425&dp=true&cid=28784&glat=SEAR&setPMCookies=true). I took some photos of the exterior and interior, and peeked into the ballroom where our show will be held. Also, I am getting my laundry done.

Later.

Wet Days Lately

One week ago tonight (23 April) found me at Fox High School in Arnold, where I officiated three youth soccer matches. I had a girls match in the middle to start the set. It was a physical affair and I issued a caution to each team, but the match stayed in reasonable control. The other two matches went well.

Work has gone well, starting with a busy Monday morning as usual. I did flex out Tuesday afternoon (25 April), since I would be in the following Saturday morning.

I hosted this month's IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) business meeting. We had five of us club officers there as we planned next month's general meeting and discussed some other club business. I bought some beer for the meeting, but only one bottle was taken (by me). At least we have some for the next few weeks at home.

After work Wednesday night, I headed to the Wehrenberg Des Peres 14 Cine (http://www.marcustheatres.com/theatre-locations/marcus-des-peres-14-cine) for the TCM Big Screen Classics (http://www.tcm.com/fathom/?ecid=subnavtcmfathom) presentation of the 1967 classic "The Graduate." It was my first time seeing this in a theater, and there were about 20 of us watching that night. Despite a glitch where the video of the introduction and start of the opening credits was absent (the audio was loud and clear), it was great seeing this film in a restored print.

By the way, that Wednesday at work was the last I saw of Lauren, who is now at our branch in Mount Vernon, Illinois. She's a terrific employee and person, and I wish her all the best.

Off work Thursday, I visited my dentist late that morning for my semi-annual check up. No problems were found, and my teeth were nicely cleaned. I ran off some flyers for this September's IPMS/Gateway Invitational, which I took to Schaefer's Hobby Shop (http://schaeferhobby.com/) in Sunset Hills and Checkered Flag Hobby Country (https://checkeredflaghobby.com/) in Mehlville.

Friday (28 April) was the first day at our branch for our new manager, Cory, who had previously managed the branch down the street in Ballwin. We had a lot of cars on our lot to start the day, many from customers wanting to return their cars before the rains really hit hard. It was a challenge to find space on our lot for the cars until they can be rented or taken out by our traffic drivers, but in the end it worked out. Cory and I were back there yesterday morning. After work, I had lunch at Yiro/Gyro (http://yirogyro.com/) down the street from us in Ellisville. I enjoyed a nice gyro with french fries.

It has been raining a lot the past few days here. After getting just over 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) from Tuesday through Friday, we were soaked with 2.1 inches (5.3 cm) yesterday. The rain kept falling overnight and into today. The soccer matches I was scheduled to referee tonight were called off due to all this rain.

Later.