Details of the February Meeting
Just a reminder right up front, the March meeting is your last opportunity to pay your yearly dues and get a savings of $30. Dues for anyone who has not yet paid will be $5 per meeting starting in April and any unpaid dues for January and February will be due also.

We all enjoyed another great meeting in February but then again, how can you expect anything else with a room full of pipe smokers. Unfortunately, the mood was dampened for a time with talk of more tobacco legislation particularly the proposed taxes on pipe tobacco across America and the proposal of additional taxes on tobacco right here in Massachusetts. I can't urge you enough to do your part and write your congressmen. Emails are ok, letters and calls are better. I heard one person say he faxes all his letters to his Congressman which seems to be a fairly easy and painless option if you have access to a fax machine.

Click here to do something about the Tax on Pipe Tobacco.
Click here to do something about the MA TAX on Tobacco.

More New Members
Can you believe it.... we have more new members!!!

First we have Mike who came last month and was back again in February to make it official. Mike was born and raised in Franklin, MA. He's a trained jazz guitarist who works at a medical device company during the day and plays guitar and smokes a pipe at night. Mike says..., "I've always been an avid cigar smoker, when I saw Lord of the Rings I decided to buy a cheap drugstore pipe and some Captain Black and give the pipe a try. In spite of that experience, I soldiered on and found better pipes and tobacco, and thankfully the SHPC. I'm still in search of the Holy Grail of tobacco and I'm having a lot of fun looking."

Next we have Ron. Ron is a student of Middlesex Community College, in Bedford, enrolled in their Engineering Science transfer program. Ron says..., "Not long after turning 18 I tried smoking a pipe and cigars, and while I enjoyed both, I had difficulty with the pipe without other knowledgeable pipe-smokers to guide me. Recently I met members of the SHPC, on campus (Steve and Derek), who helped me learn how to pack and smoke a pipe."

Patrick also met us at CB Perkins and joined our meeting and in a follow up email said..., "Thanks for a nice time at the meeting – it was a pleasure meeting you all. Pipe smoking really is a hobby, not a habit, and it’s nice to find a forum in which to learn more about the “art and craft." I look forward to seeing you all again at another meeting!"

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Better Days
A Series on Pipe Smoking's Nostalgic Past
                                                    By Ernie Whitenack

Member Ernie Whitenack has offered to write a series of articles about the "better days" of pipe smoking as remembered by him. We hope you enjoy these stories and look forward to them in future editions of the SHPC Gazette.

Rememberances
As I attempt to get this old brain into high gear and pull out memories long ago backed-up to some far corner, I get snippets of events that rapidly pop in and out. So, I must step back a bit and relate a couple if things that recently emerged.

When thinking of Grandpa Newt and his matches I remembered that there were two types of kitchen matches, one with white tips and one with blue. Both were "strike anywhere" and I mean anywhere. I've seen matches struck with a thumbnail while being held in the same hand, struck on teeth, the bottom of a shoe, on a jacket zipper and naturally any rough surface handy. Grandpa Newt, and many others, preferred the back of the leg. The knee was lifted to bring the thigh to a horizontal position and the match was dragged over the taut fabric from the base of the buttock to almost the knee. It was a common sight to see a light colored line running down the back of a man's dark trouser leg. However, this practice was put aside when wearing one's best attire.
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Better Days, Getting Better
I recently recieved an email from J.R., a gentleman interested in joining the club. Unfortunately, we realize that the commute would be a bit too much for him seeing that he lives in Bremerton, WA. Since I enjoyed a year or so in Bremerton during my Navy days, we exchanged a few emails about life back then. As it turns out, I discovered that J.R. would probably have a lot more in common with Ernie since they both remember all the same Presidents. He also agreed to contribute a tale or two of his own better days of pipe smoking that I plan to include in a future edition of the Gazette. Thanks for the contribution J.R., it was very nice chatting with you.