Lexington KY, Regional next week

See you there Jim. I'm looking forward to it.

 

Thanks for the plug Jim and John-looking forward to seeing you all and everyone else there!

 

Ill be there. Lexington is only 60 miles or so from Louisville, where my daughter lives.

 

Jim hope to see you there .

 

I think those pictures say I have gained weight.

 

It was great to see Jim and Becky, John C., Fred, Fred and Dorothy Hansen, Bob Arnold, Bryan Eyring, and several other folks who I'm sure I'm forgetting at this show.


Just as some quick numbers-unfortunately the threat of snow seemed to put a damper on the show, and understandably. It ended up not coming in until last night here, but with the distance many people need to travel, it's understandable that they'd want to avoid it. We had a fair few last minute cancellations, a lot less walk-in traffic than usual, and quite a few folks who were gone by 11:00 on Friday to try and get ahead of the weather. We sold right around 100 tables, and had a bit over 200 go into the mart-this is down from our typical ~125 table sales, and 250-300 attendance. Of course, we also had a number of folks who usually buy tables or attend who have since passed away, and also had a few examples of folks taking fewer tables than usual.

Our round-table on private labels was-I think-well received by the folks in attendance and we had some good discussion.

Here are a few photos from the show

 

Thanks for the update and for posting the pics, Ben. Sorry to hear that attendance was down, but it looks like those who were able to make it were enjoying themselves.

 

Nice to see "young" and younger Fred. Thanks for the pics.

 

Ben and Jim...thanks for the pix and great to see you and the rest of my watch nerd buddies in Lex again. The attendance was down a bit but I for one alway have a great time at this first Regional of the year. I did not buy much but sold a few and had a fine time participating in the round table discussion on PLs.

 

I enjoyed the show and seeing several friends again. I've been to the Lexington show three years running now.

 

John and Clint,

Thank you both for coming, and I enjoyed seeing both of you there!

 

Nice to see the pictures I started out at 6 am friday headed to the show about halfway there i had a wheel bearing start making a noise in my truck so i had to limp back home.

 

I am thinking about driving over, but I am a clock guy....seems like what I can find (which is not a lot ) on Lexington is that it is 99% watches.
Is that about right?

 

I'll be missing Lexington this year, as I am retiring from my job after 40+ years in May and I am hoarding all my vacation so I can get paid for it all (8 weeks) when I walk out the door. I'll have more time to devote to my hobbies after that. There is another Bulletin article I want to write, and I haven't touched my banjos in months.

 

Maxx,

I am a watch collector but there is no way Lex is 99% watches. There will be a lot of clocks. It is a small show and I guess it depends on how long it would take you to get there. Friday should be a good day.

 

Thanks for the reply...I am only about three hours away, so it may be worth the drive and get there early....still needing some basic tools to complete my clock repair kit.
Hoping to score a nice watchmaker's lathe....and who knows what else!
It doesn't show any times that I can find, any idea when to show up for an early bird?

 

Seems like FL Regional is in conflict with Lexington. Does no one at Home Office look at these schedules?
Paul

 

Paul, a week apart.

 

There is really no earlybird at Lex. The earlybird is trading the night before...Thursday. They usually let people into the mart room on Thursday night....but who knows. I have a really great high end Swiss Boley Lathe I was going to bring anyway. I will be the tall gray haired guy probably sitting at the NAWCC table.

 

Hmmm....yeah that would make a big difference.
I hope someone clarifies when it will be....

 

this week Jan 17-18 2020......

Sorry, but will see y'all in FL

 

Mart room opens at 8:00AM on Friday the 17th to table holders, 9:00AM to NAWCC members.

We usually open the doors to the mart room for an hour or two Thursday night to allow table holders who want to do so to start bringing things in(no security during that time). As a chapter, we don't officially sanction trading in that time, but also don't stop it

I'm looking forward to seeing all the usual crowd who can make it this year! I'll be over there some time tomorrow afternoon.

 

Thanks so much, that really helps me a lot!
I will be there bright and early Friday morning...

 

Schedule attached

 

Well, ya cannot blame a guy for trying....too bad he had to pack them back up.

I will seek out your table and stop by and introduce myself for sure!

Thanks,

mike

 

Jim and Becky will be table E6 and E7. John Cote will be at U3(wall at the front of the room).

I'll be the guy out at the registration desk running around like a mad man.

Will look forward to seeing you there!

 

Also, we still have tables available!

Anyone who is on the fence-the weather looks clear through Friday night. If you want to come, we can get you set up with a table(or multiple tables) at the door! Admission at the door is $20(spouses and children under 18 are free) and tables are $40.

All educational programs are free and open to the public. Times are listed on the above brochure. We should have a lot of fun this year-I'm putting together a display of 1883 Model "Crescent St." watches, and will do an exhibit walk-through at 11:00 Friday. John Cote is hosting a round table discussion of "bring your favorite watch" at 2:00. We did something similar last year specific to private labels, and are hoping for similar participation and success this year. It should be both fun and educational for all involved.

 

Clint, I hear you and completely understand. When I retired, almost 16 years ago, I did the same thing.

Best of luck to you in retirement. Now you can spend more time at chapter 37 meetings.

Tom

 

One last bit of information-as mentioned you must be an NAWCC member(or spouse/child under 18) to enter the mart room.

For anyone who is not an NAWCC member, or has let their membership lapse, we are able to take care of you at the registration desk.

Also, if you have lost/misplaced your membership card, just bring a photo ID with you and we can check your membership status at the desk!

 

Thank you Ben, and the whole gang for doing this Regional, the 1st of the new year. I know how much work this is, and I appreciate it.

 

Certainly looking forward to seeing your crew there, Mr. 179!

 

I got there about 40 minutes after the doors opened and all the "fixer upper" clocks were already gone......I searched out a few people here but they were all away from their tables...so I left empty handed.
If I knew anything about watches I may have purchased a good user, but it was all too overwhelming.
I hope it was a successful show for everyone.

 

Hey Mike,
I'm also a clock guy and was there right after 9 AM Friday and was underwhelmed as well. I made three passes through then left for a total of 40 minutes. This was my first time to this particular regional and I drove 6 hours round trip. Maybe I will run into you at the Southern Ohio or the National in Dayton.

 

Sounds like you and I had identical trips..I drove from Evansville, three hours each way...
I am definitely going to Dayton, but I plan on getting there the night before...lesson learned!
not sure about the Southern Ohio though, if it is anything like this Regional (speaking only from a clock guys perspective) I will save my cash for the national..
Would love to meet ya also. I know another guy who was in our class last week is going to.

 

Guys,

I'm sorry that those of you who were coming to look for clocks didn't find a lot to interest you.

I admit to my eyes sort of glazing over on clock tables, and aside from recognizing some notable/very high end stuff and elaborate cases, they all sort of run together for me. This is nothing personal or derogatory toward clocks-I'm sure many clock guys see a case full of watches and it may not be immediately recognize why, for example, two all but identical watches might be $1K or more apart in price(something I see many times).

Also, while we do have a fair few people running the show, Derek and I are kind of the main ones you're likely to interact with in official capacities. I'm a watch guy and Derek is a clock guy. I talk the show up to my collector friends, who are also mostly watch guys, and can also point you in the general direction of where you might find a certain type of watch. I'm also fairly well tied to the registration desk at least during "crunch time", though, and not an actual survey of the mart room(I'm lucky if I get to do that at 10:00 for 5 minutes before I get pulled back out) so mostly advise just based on where what I know a certain individual USUALLY has and not what's actually there.

I hate to say this too, but there's a reason why many shows offer early bird admission now. We don't, but our tables are similar in price to what many shows charge for early. You can't get around the fact that as much likely changes hands in the first 30 minutes of the room opening as will in the rest of the day, and if you're on the hunt for bargains factor this into your planning for the show. In other words, get there as early as you possibly can.

 

No worries...
As I said, I know zilch about watches, and so I did not stick around. I looked at a bunch and had no idea what I was looking at.

One gentleman said pretty much one guy gobbled up the "fixer upper" clocks in the first minutes of the show opening.
I got caught in traffic in Louisville and it made me a half hour late.....when I got there I saw several folks with 2 wheel carts carrying off a lot of old clocks.

I looked for the other folks too and they also were away from their table..

I do not twitter, Facebook or anything else like that...I belong to two other forums, a Catholic site and a Woodworking site....and we speak pretty freely within the threads....just not used to this place I guess.
I was just being friendly and having a conversation, had no idea I was breaking any etiquette or rules.
It seems to me you would want to encourage conversation to better engage and bring more people into a dying art.
I guess this forum is not such a place to do so.

It's all good...and as I said earlier I hope all vendors had a good day and everyone who was looking for something found it.

In the future I will stick to the clock threads, and keep my conversation style posting minimal and to only thread titled conversation.

M

 

Based on this thread getting reported by several different members it has been edited and returned
to the open forum. The moderating team has decided to move this thread to
the Chapter News and views section of the forum.

Thanks
Rob

 

Perhaps it was in a post that was edited out by the moderator?

 

It would be great if we could see some pictures.