February 2008

Club Info & Events

Details of the January Meeting
We had a good turnout for the January meeting. Thanks to all of you who continue to make attending club meetings a priority. We would really like to see those of you who haven't been able to make it to a meeting in some time and blame the smoking bans and our relocation largely for that. Our club has changed some in the past few years but the one thing that hasn't changed is the camaraderie we share around one of our favorite pastimes. We hope some of you will be able to reconnect with us in 2008.

It was good to see Ken Collins back after a couple of month's hiatus to deal with some health issues. We'd also like to thank Ken's wife for all the scarves she knitted and made available to our club members and their significant others. My wife and daughter were very happy to get one.

We have also heard that Kenny Kasperian. has been experiencing some difficult times as of late and we are all hoping and praying that things turn around for him very soon. Kenny, if you're reading this, please get in touch with us. Steve Monjure has also been asking for you and would like to hear from you. We hope you're doing OK.

Revisiting the SHPC New Dues Structure
In the December 07 edition of the Gazette we talked about a change in our dues structure. Since then we have discussed this in more depth and come to the conclusion that the new dues structure does not offer enough of an incentive so we have come up with another alternative that has been voted on and approved. The new dues structure for 2008 will be as follows:

Yearly Dues Option
Membership dues will be $30/yr which should cover most if not all of our yearly expenses. The yearly dues must be paid by the March meeting. Members who do not pay yearly dues will pay $5 for any meeting they attend.

Initiation Fee for New Members
We have decided to keep the $10 initiation fee for new members which will help supplement any other expenses that may arise.

Tobacco Raffle
We will still continue to raffle off two tins of tobacco each month. Members who attend the meeting will be required to purchase at least one raffle ticket at $1 per ticket or may also purchase additional raffle tickets at $1 each or 5 tickets for $3. This seemed to work our very well at the January meeting.

Other Club Expenses
If the club's reserve funds have become depleted and funds are needed for an unforeseen expense, a collection from members will be taken to cover the expense if the expense has been voted on and approved.

Assessment of the New Dues Structure
An assessment of this new dues structure will be conducted at the end of 2008 and determination will be made to keep it or revise it for 2009 and beyond.

Member Contributions .......................... by Rick Frederics

Just a thought
What does a pipe-smoking professor do when he has too much time on his hands; research of course. But this is probably not what my college had in mind when it comes to research, but being bored one day on winter break I decided to check out famous pipe-smokers on the Internet.
Where would we be - where would the world be without these famous pipe smokers? Do you think non-smokers would have banned these individuals? Here are just a few names that are very recognizable.

• Albert Einstein – the world’s greatest ever scientist and Nobel prize winner;
• Alexander Graham Bell – inventor of the phone;
• Abraham Lincoln – 16th President who abolished slavery and held the United States together smoked a clay pipe;
• JRR Tolkien – Lord of the Rings creator;
• William Shakespeare – playwright, author, and another clay pipe smoker;
• Vincent Van Gogh – famous artist;
• Norman Rockwell – famous artist.

I also found this in a pipe smoking book – I remember reading it a long time ago – but then I wasn’t a pipe smoker so it didn’t mean much – just an English assignment.

The Perfect Mistress by Charles Dickens - from the Cricket on the Hearth.
"The bed was soon made ready; and the visitor, declining all refreshments but a cup of tea, retired. Then, Dot --- quite well again she said, quite well again – arranged the great chair in the chimney corner for her husband; filled his pipe and gave it to him; and took her usual little stool beside him on the hearth. … She was, out and out, the best filler of a pipe I should say, in the four corners of the globe. To see her put that chubby little finger in the bowl, and then blow down the pipe to clear the tube; and when she had done so, affect to think that there was really something in the tube, and blow a dozen times and hold it to her eye like a telescope, with the most provoking twist on her capital little face, as she looked down it; was a brilliant thing. As to the tobacco, she was perfect mistress of the subject; and her lighting of the pipe, with a wisp of paper, when the Carrier had it in his mouth --- going so very near his nose, and yet not scorching it --- was Art, and high Art, Sir."

Kahn's Korner

I have been ruminating about an article for this month's newsletter, and I had one idea in mind, when suddenly another one percolated to the front of my mind.

Recently, as I mentioned at the last meeting, Steve Gutz and I have been discussing what is to become of his vast collection of pipes. He has some four thousand from what I can gather and has no idea of how many or of which manufacturers. Oh, he knows he's got a bunch of Dunhills, Ser Jacapos, etc. but of each... not a clue. Doesn't have pictures, doesn't number them, doesn't organize them, doesn't have any documentation of any kind.

Now, if you're reading this, it is more likely than not you own a computer. We live in the day of computers and databases. We now have other tools at our disposal that interact with the computer. We have digital cameras and scanners. Putting these tools together, it would be a simple matter of creating a database with images with information about each of our collections.

So, what information do we want to put in that database? Here are a few things that we'd want:
Nomenclature, manufacturer, carver, shape, smooth or rusticated, carved, or blast, date made, date obtained, price paid, retail value, stampings, unique markings or bands, to name a few. Perhaps, condition should be added.

Think how easy it would be to trade or sell based on this information. So I challenge each of the members to start cataloging each pipe they own.

Oh, yeah, the other idea. I'll keep that for another Kahn's Korner. Good ideas aren't easy to come by.

Ken Collins, I have a special project for you regarding tobacco. Ask me at the meeting.