MikeM writes:
Wow.
I just wanted to get a thread started here so that we can share the wonderful
memories of what was a truly wonderful weekend in Winston-Salem !!
First and foremost, great credit and sincere thanks to our main
man Martin O'Brien who put his life on PAUSE and did such a
great job getting us herded together for some terrific activites.
As it turned out there were 18 GroopFolks, plus some wives
and friends, which made our entourage the VERY animated
nucleus of the whole weekend !! I just so desperately wish that
I could package up and ship each of you a box full of the magic that
happens when we get a bunch of GroopFolk together ! It is contagious.
Thanks to all who came, and made this so special for me personally as
I got to fill in some of the blanks in my "To Do" list of meeting people.
Shortly after Greg Williams kindly collected me from the airport
I finally met the Legendary Estonian, Indrek Lepson, and he is
more charming and entertaining in person than he is even here
in GroopMail. And I finally got to meet my old friend Martin, with
whom I have so much in common that it is spooky, and I met
the uber enthusiastic Craig Ciancolo, "The Kid" who spent the
entire weekend grinning and taking notes !! Also the very nice
Tom Delveccio, a longtime member who does not get to participate
much, but is devoted to our cause, and spent a lot of great time
with us, being part of the gang. As for the rest, it feels much more
like a family reunion than a furntiture seminar, and it is just so
much fun to see everyone, catch up news and just enjoy good
company. We did some recruiting of course, and in one of the
pics you will see Ralph Jackson a restorer from FL who is high
on our recruiting list ! This surely will not be the last event at this
very convenient and enjoyable location, and we have already talked
about trying to get the 2008 seminar to focus on historic finishes...
Stay tuned.
In short the Furniture seminar was some pretty heady stuff on
the tool marks of antique furniture, presented by some really
heavy duty experts in their fields, and though it was at times
a little dry, I think it is fair to say that all of us learned something.
Needless to say, they saved the best for last, and Don Libro
sure did not disappoint. I hope that others will chime in on this
with their own impressions.
On Friday night we got to "play" in one of the finest museums
anywhere, giggling as we walked past those little ropes and
proceeded to crawl underneath furntiure and open up the drawers !
Pretty neat, as was the information to be seen with one of the magic
flashlights, containing a UV light source that Don has been promoting.
They really work !!
And then there is Martin's, shop.... yes it really is that neat yes he
really does do work at that level, and yes he really is so totally open
to sharing that he epitomizes the GroopSpirit !! And yes I really DO
want one of those old pump action dentist's chair bases, REALLY.
I am sending along just a few pictures to start an album of this latest
GroopEvent, they really do get better each time !!
