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

Vacation in Omaha: IPMS/USA National Convention (2)

Friday morning (22 July), I woke up in the room at the Doubletree Suites that I was sharing with my IPMS/Gateway clubmate Jim Victor. I then walked across the complex to the Bistro at the Marriott for a breakfast meeting of IPMS/USA Regional Coordinators (RCs). Eight of the fourteen RCs were present, including myself as RC-14, and we were joined with IPMS/USA President Dave Lockhart and Director of Local Chapters (DLC) Jeff Neal.

In the meeting, we had a full discussion of various issues affecting the regions and their chapters. These topics included updating chapter information online, what constitutes a Regional contest, and ways to increase efficiency in model contest entries and results reporting. It was great being part of this group within IPMS/USA. After this meeting, I headed to the La Vista Conference Center next door for Day Three of the IPMS/USA National Convention.

At the Convention, I browsed among the contest entries, which were filling up the tables in the Model Room, and among the vendors in the Vendor Room. I made a few small purchases from the latter.

That afternoon, I attended a seminar given by Michael Jones of Sprue Brothers Models, who spoke about his experiences during Operation El Dorado Canyon on 15 April 1986. At the times, Jones was an Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO) in an EF-111 Raven that accompanied the F-111s that attacked targets in Tripoli, Libya from bases in Great Britain. It was rather fascinating to get the perspective of an EWO on this mission, when we usually get that from the crews that dropped the bombs. After Jones' talk, I went to the Squadron stand in the Vendor Room and purchased the F-111 Aardvark in action book. I then took it to the Sprue Brothers stand for Jones to sign it on a picture of the Raven he flew during El Dorado Canyon.

After dinner, I joined other contest judges in the Model Room for the briefing before judging began. We received our instructions for judging the models, and saw judges being recognized for service milestones (such as for three years, 10 years, and 20 years). Then, I gathered with other aircraft judges to get my team and category assignments from the head aircraft judge. My team did a category with 24 entries, and it took us about 2.5 hours to evaluate all the entries and determine the top three finishers. After that, I enjoyed a snack of cookies and soda before waiting about an hour until all aircraft were judged. We then looked over candidates for the Best Aircraft from the top First Place finishers in their respective categories. After that, my night was done and I headed to my room to sleep.

Saturday morning (23 July) after breakfast with some of my IPMS/Gateway clubmates at the Embassy Suites, I checked out of my room and put my luggage in the car. Then, it was back to the Convention. I sat in at the National Business Meeting, where the executive board (e-board) of IPMS/USA reported on the Society's operations in the past year and looking forward to next year. Overall, IPMS/USA is in good shape.

Following this meeting, the e-board listened to bid presentations for groups seeking to host the 2024 National Convention. There was only one bid, and this came from Madison, Wisconsin. It certainly looked like an excellent bid from where I sat. After these meetings, I made a last pass through the Model and Vendor Rooms. 

I hosted a Region 14 Business Meeting in the afternoon, but only a few members showed up. It was a nice time, though, bringing the attendees up to date on what I learned from the RC and National Business Meetings.

After a light dinner, I filed into a meeting room to witness a livestream of the closing ceremony that came after the banquet. Unfortunately, the stream didn't work as it should, so I ended up going to the banquet hall to see for myself. I missed the opening remarks and National Honors but took in all that followed. The 2023 National Convention hosts from San Marcos, Texas made their presentation to invite all to come down there next year. Then, the Madison group made its presentation for 2024.

Announcements of the contest results came next. I heard they had 2808 entries--the third-most in IPMS/USA history. My IPMS/Gateway clubmate Rick Keasey won four category awards: A First Place in Figures, two Seconds in Dioramas, and a Third in Collections. He also won a theme Award--The American Soldier--for his bust of a soldier on D-Day. 

One of the Aircraft entries was the big winner.  A scratch-built Friedrichshafen FF.60 (an experimental German floatplane of World War I) not only won its category, but also Best Aircraft, Best World War I Aircraft, Popular Best of Show (by vote of attendees), and Judges Grand Award as best model of the entire contest. Absolutely incredible work.

This ceremony ended the Convention and most of us filed into the Contest Room to congratulate the winners and to pack up our entries. After making the rounds with my congratulations (including the hosts from IPMS/Fort Crook), I packed up my entries and put them in the car. Then, I stayed to help Keasey with taking his entries to this truck. With that done, I departed La Vista just before Midnight to begin the drive home.

The cruise control on the Toyota Corolla I rented from Enterprise sure came in handy on the long drive home. I made a few short stops to get snacks, refuel the car, and to take a cat nap before arriving home just after 8:30 am. My road trip covered 892.9 miles (1437 km) in all. After unpacking at home, I took a good rest. I was tired, but most happy about this vacation.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

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

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

2022 IPMS/USA National Convention: IPMS 2022 (ipmsusa2022.com)

IPMS/Fort Crook: Fort Crook IPMS/USA

La Vista Conference Center: Embassy Suites Omaha-La Vista/Hotel & Conference Center (hilton.com)

Enterprise Rent-A-Car: Rental Cars at Low, Affordable Rates | Enterprise Rent-A-Car 

 

 

Vacation in Omaha: IPMS/USA National Convention (1)

Last week, I went on vacation, starting that Tuesday (19 July). Early the next morning, I drove in a rented Corolla to Omaha, Nebraska, site of this year's International Plastic Modelers' Society/USA (IPMS/USA) National Convention. After approximately 6.5 hours of driving, I arrived at the La Vista Conference Center just west of Omaha, site of the Convention.

I walked into the facility, got my convention packet, entered my three contest models, and began making the rounds. My three entries were an aircraft (1:48 scale A6M2 Zero), which I had just completed early that week, an armor (1:72 155mm M2 Gun), and a ship (1:720 USS Alabama).

I browsed around the Model Room, admiring the contest entries so far. Then, walking through the lobby, I received a free penlight from Sprue Brothers Models as a gift for being a loyal customer. There were two Vendor Rooms that I visited, checking out the various vendors. Along the way, I said hello to fellow IPMS members I knew and vendors at their stands.

Late that afternoon, I checked into the Marriott connected to the Conference Center. I roomed with an IPMS member from Iowa, Mike Halliday, who had an opening for that night. We got along very nicely.

Thursday morning (21 July), the first full day of the Convention, I packed my bags as I would be staying at the adjacent Embassy Suites the rest of the week. At the Convention, I took in some seminars that morning. One was by my friend Mike Mackowski on the history and modeling of lifting bodies and single stage to orbit space craft. Mike presented some highly interesting information on this topic. That was followed by one where several hobby industry people took questions from the audience on how they dealt with inflation and supply chain issues.

After grabbing lunch from a concession kiosk at the Conference Center, I viewed the Contest and Vendor rooms and chatted with others I knew or heard of that were in attendance. In mid-afternoon, I checked into the room I was sharing at the Embassy Suites with my IPMS/Gateway mate Jim Victor. The accommodations in Omaha were superb.

Thursday night, I joined other Convention attendees on a tour of the Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum in Ashland, Nebraska. We went by chartered bus to the museum, which was closed to the public but open for our group. Attendees browsed among the aircraft and other exhibits on display, then enjoyed a buffet dinner in a display hangar among several aircraft. That dinner--barbecue pork sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, baked beans, cookies, iced tea or lemonade--somehow tasted better in the museum and among fellow IPMS members. It was a fun time going around the exhibits and even going into a few aircraft on display. Our group then got on the bus and returned to La Vista.

More on this Convention in my next post.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

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

2022 IPMS/USA National Convention: IPMS 2022 (ipmsusa2022.com)

La Vista Conference Center: Embassy Suites Omaha-La Vista/Hotel & Conference Center (hilton.com)

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

Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum: Strategic Air Command & Aerospace Museum (sacmuseum.org)