September/October 2005

Club Info & Events

Combined Newsletter
In order to make things a little less confusing for me, I have decided to combine the September and October newsletters and post all upcoming newsletters the week prior to the following meeting. So now instead of the October newsletter announcing the November meeting, the November newsletter will announce the November meeting and will be posted during the last week of October. (Hopefully that made sense).

The September Meeting and Steve's Pipe Party
From what I've heard the September meeting at Steve's was smaller than previous years but as enjoyable as always. Thanks Steve and Arlene for your time and effort in putting this event together and for allowing us to fill you house with a variety of our favorite aromas.

October Meeting Day Change
Just another reminder that the October meeting will not be the first Tuesday of the month this month but will be the second Tuesday of the month which is October 11th. It seems like it's been a long time since we've had a regular meeting so I hope many of you will be able to attend.

The United Pro Choice Smokers Newsletter
For over a year now we've had a link in our newsletter to the The United Pro Choice Smoker's Rights Newsletter and many of the articles in our "Pipe & Tobacco News and Info" section have come from this source. They also have a link to our site from which we've received quite a few hits.
Although it seems the efforts these days to preserve our right to smoke have been fruitless, Samantha Phillipe, the heart of the UPCSRN has been doing her part to champion our cause for many years. Recently however, her operating costs have become a more than she can manage. She has asked her subscribers for any donation they may be able to afford to help cover these costs. I believe what she does is extremely important if only by just keeping the resistance alive. So at the October meeting I plan to bring a vote to the table to use club funds to send her a donation. Please take some time to collect your thoughts on this subject prior to the October meeting. Thank you in advance for your consideration.

My Dog and My Pipe     By Rick Frederics
It’s been about a week since I last lit up my pipe, or even wanted to smoke. You see, it’s been that long since I had to have my dog, Charlie, put to sleep. Charlie was my smoking companion. I would light my pipe and he would always be by my side. I would look at him – he would look at me. Occasionally I would reach down to scratch his head. We were both content as anyone could be. But since that awful night that I had to have him put to sleep I lost that desire to smoke --- until tonight. Because tonight I took out one of my favorite pipes, lit it up, and instead of looking down at him I sat thinking about all the wonderful times we had together. In a way Charlie is still with me --- my memories of us together never fading. It’s as if he were saying, “Have a smoke with me.” And I am.

The September New York Pipe Show        By Dock Perry
The Fall edition of the New York Pipe Show 2005 has come and gone with some good and some bad. I arrived early on that morning and met up with buddies Tim Hynick and Rick Frederics in the hotel's restaurant. Two things you can be sure of at a NY pipe show are those famous concrete filled mattresses and excellent food for breakfast and lunch!
This was Tim's first show as an exhibitor and after talking for a while he quickly made his way inside to set up his table. The doors opened at 10 a.m. sharp with absolutely NO line. I had noticed earlier when I had come in that the whole place seemed quite empty and if not for seeing Jay & Louise Jones from Hermit Tobacco in the hallway one might not even know that a pipe show was to be getting under way! Upon entering the hall I quickly made my way over to see Don Seater of James Island pipes. This was the main reason for me attending the show as Mr.Seater had with him "The Pipe Smoker's Ephemeris" books 1 & 2 and I was anxious to purchase them. Rick purchased two tins of the G.L. Pease "NASPC" edition tobaccos from Mr.Seater as well. These are done by Pease once a year and are sold only at the show in Columbus.
One of the more interesting discoveries came from Hermit tobacco works. It seems as though the Jones came across several huge tins of pre 1963 "Christian Peper" brand latakia and sent them down to Cornell and Diehl to be blended with other leaf to create their new blend. Obviously it's a very limited run of tobacco and I felt fortunate to snag up eight of these for my cellar. I'd estimate that less than 3/4's of the rooms tables were filled with vendors and there were very few folks wandering around. I'd guess less than 50 in total! This is in sharp contrast to the shows in March which fill that room to capacity.
After looking around a bit I joined Tim who occupied a table in the middle of the room near Rolando Negoita and Chuck Rio who I truly enjoyed meeting and chatting with throughout the show. Tim had about 20 pipes of various sizes and shapes including three of his signature pokers which were simply outstanding! A combination of sky high gas prices and the show's date on a holiday weekend really kept sales down and I overheard several vendors complaining of not selling a single piece. In my opinion the show may be spreading itself a bit too thin and would do better with two or three shows per year.
I walked away with only one pipe, a Steve Johnson XL bent chimney with a gorgeous yellow stem and matching shank insert. It was also purchased from Jay Jones and did he ever give me a deal on it! I left out of NY at around 2 p.m. and didn't feel that I had missed a thing. It was a good show but not a great show and in the future I believe that it's one that will be skipped over.

Occasionally I'm looking for a news item to help fill out this newsletter. So if you have some interesting
pipe, tobacco or smoking related news, or would like to share your knowledge on a particular
pipes and tobacco related subject, please send it along and maybe I'll use it. (Preferably by e-mail).