Activities
Jul 29
2007 INCC Convention Review
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2007
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The 26th annual convention of the International Nippon Collectors’ Club was held July 26, 27 & 28, 2007 at Embassy Suites Hotel in Lexington, Kentucky. Many INCC members had arrived in Kentucky before the start of the conference and the visiting began just as if it had been only a few days since the last convention. Before the convention officially kicked-off, we enjoyed some of the Lexington specialties – the horse farm, horse farm tour and some of us even toured a couple of distilleries. Even with all the running around there was time to make several purchases and sell some Nippon. Each day more members arrived; which of course meant more socializing.
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On
Wednesday, July 25, the INCC board members - under the direction of
President Tomo Takeuchi and Vice President Dick Bittner - met for the
summer board meeting while the rest of us were free to visit, buy &
sell. That evening after
the hotel “happy hour”, the hospitality room opened and we were free to
pick up registration packages, eat goodies and mingle. |
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Thursday, July 26, scheduled activities opened with the “First-time Attendees Orientation”, moderated by President Elect Bob Shoenherr. The purpose of this meeting is to welcome new attendees to their first convention as well as answer any questions they might have. At 10:30 am we met for the General Meeting with President Tomo Takeuchi in charge. After welcoming comments, the following reports were presented: Dick Bittner – Julie Kimelman – Judy Boyd –
Bruce Addision –
Bob Schoenherr – The 2008 INCC Convention will be held in Columbus (Dublin), Ohio from July 31through August 2, 2008. As of now the location for 2009 remains undetermined.
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Tomo
introduced the board members and Bob Schoenherr, the incoming
President. He then asked the Japanese attendees to stand and they were
given a round of applause. He also thanked the many people who had
donated items for the raffle.
Dick Bittner then advised when the Rarities feature would be held as it had been inadvertently omitted from the printed program. Raffle tickets were also on sale for the afghan made by Gloria Addison as well as other donated items.
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The next program at 1:30 pm was “East Meets West Flower Arrangements: with Dr. Yoshi Itani demonstrating eastern and Cille Mathis demonstrating western styels; each of them explaining and commenting on their arrangements. Using a variety of Nippon vases they created exquisite bouquets in many shapes, forms and colors. It was interesting to watch and study the two techniques. |
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At 3:30 pm “Japanese Porcelain Painting Factories and Trading Companies in the Nippon Period” was given by Dr. Yoshi Itani. There was information on development of trade and production which will be covered more fully in a separate article by Judy Boyd. Then came the Rarities with Dick Bittner and Yoshie Itani discussing each piece. This feature is always interesting and allows a chance to see unusual items.
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At 7:00 pm we were treated to a buffet dinner with plenty of dishes and desserts in which to choose. Once everyone was seated, Tomo had one person from each table stand and play the “Rock-Paper-Scissors” game to determine the order tables got up for the buffet line. |
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After dinner came the “Ugly East Meets West Contest”. Once the ugliest piece had been selected by audience applause, most of the items were auctioned as a fund raiser. Also auctioned were t-shirts, a book on geishas and a wall hanging to name a few. The t-shirts featured an Indian chief and sold for $26 and $40; the geisha book $61; and Dick Bittner was high bidder for the wall hanging which featured a cobalt urn. To close the evening festivities Tomo again got the crowd playing Rock-Paper-Scissors and more lucky persons won kimonos. The rest of the evening was left open for socializing, shopping and relaxing in preparation for the auction the next morning. |
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At 7:30 am
on Friday Doris Myers and her crew of auction workers were ready
for action, opening the check-in room to receive items. There
were about 125 lots checked in, which were then displayed with
write-ups on the viewing tables. At 9:30 am the doors opened
and people were invited to inspect items and decide upon which
they would bid. Shortly before 10:30 am Doris (with Dr. Itani
translating) explained auction rules. Dick Bittner then
refreshed our memories on the meaning of the colored labels on
some of the sale pieces. He then introduced the auctioneer,
Mark Maddox, a well-known auctioneer in the Lexington area, and
the bidding began! Bidding proceeded briskly and many happy
members added to their collections. The auction ended shortly
after noon, and buyers settled up leaving the remainder of the
day as free time.
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Opening the programs for Saturday at 10:00 am was “Backstamps; Old Noritake for Domestic Use” given by Kazuhiko Kimura. He addressed the crowd in English at first, later asking forgiveness for switching to Japanese - with Dr. Itani as translator - deciding that his English was not good enough (although the consensus was that his English was actually quite impressive). It was an interesting and informative presentation covering Old Noritake, the pastes used for porcelain making, art quality and markings. Photographs were displayed to illustrate the subject matter.Next up was “Iron Nippon Group Contest” introduced by Judy Boyd. Tomo had us form into groups of ten – each with at least one Japanese person – and seated us in circles by group. Each circle was given a list of one hundred questions with multiple choice answers and many of them were real mind-benders. From several of the questions it became obvious why each group need a Japanese participant, because few Americans knew the answers to the historic and technical questions. Having been given 15 minutes to complete the test, papers were graded and winning group given their award. The group with the lowest score was made to line up with backs to the crowd and had to spell out “I LOVE NIPPON” with a wiggle on each letter. It looked like a mixed up chorus line of bumps and grinds!
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The afternoon kicked off with “East Meets West – Fashions from Tokyo to Lexington”. In order to display fashion of the East, westerners were dressed (by helpful Japanese ladies) in kimonos. They then “walked the runway” two-by-two, bowing to the audience.Next on the agenda was “Western Fashions”. Judy Body showed slides depicting clothing from the Victorian ear, Deco period, depression era, fifties, eighties, current times and, of course, the Old West. Dick Bittner and Jack Landrum were perfect examples dressed in boots, jeans, denim jackets and red neck scarves. We swore we saw their horses tied up in the hotel parking lot! |
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The last scheduled program was “Eastern Tea Ceremony and Western Cookie Baking Ceremony”. Several of the Japanese members demonstrated tea making and taught us the Japanese tea ceremony. Linda Lau (dressed as a Victorian lady) explained how tea time developed in the west during the reign of Queen Victoria. She discussed the refreshments served, the usage of tea time utensils. Also explained were the difference between “light tea” and “high tea,” and “theme teas” which were planned around a special premise. In addition, she also furnished us all with several recipes for tea sandwiches, cakes, scones and cookies.
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Now it was time for cookie baking western style! This was presented by Polly Frye, but you had to look twice to see it was really Polly; she appeared as “Louise” in a country dress, bib apron, curly wig and hairnet and looked quite at home in her make-believe kitchen. She read us her recipe and then combined and mixed the ingredients. Slides were shown of Dick Bittner as he ate cookies made by his neighbor, the real “Louise”. Afterwards we all had the opportunity to sample some of the twenty dozen cookies made especially for the convention by Louise. That ended the scheduled programs and we were free to enjoy the hotel happy hour and prepare for the banquet dinner.
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t 7:00 pm, the group gathered for the banquet. After dinner an array of obis were shown with INCC member Aileen Zevely, who lives and teaches in Tokyo, giving a commentary on the subject. Several obis and fabric were then auctioned. Polly Frye presented outgoing president Tomo Takeuchi with a gift from the Dixie Land Chapter. A raffle drawing followed, with several more kimonos (various sizes for both males and females), tea whisks and incense sets awarded. The final draw was for Gloria’s afghan. It was a beautiful creation (as they all have been); this time in purple and white. The number was announced and everyone checked their tickets hoping to hold the winner. The lucky ticket-holder was Kazuhiko Kimura and he was quite pleased.
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Tomo thanked everyone for their attendance and gave a special thanks to Dick Bittner for his assistance. Dick presented Tomo with a pair of Satsuma puppies on behalf of the INCC for his courage in stepping forward as the first Japanese president of the club. Having a president from Japan proved to be an interesting and very successful venture. Tomo did an excellent job planning programs which were interesting, educational and fun. He also had a special way of getting everyone laughing with his use of the Rock-Paper-Scissors event openers. Thank you Tomo!Dick Bittner also earned our gratitude for all he did to assist and work with Tomo to make everything run so smoothly. Way to go, Dick!The “East Meets West” theme was quite a success. The convention in Lexington, Kentucky was an enjoyable one that we will remember for years to come. |
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