There were several seminars on Saturday morning/afternoon. I only got to a few but there were seven total and then the keynote speaker at the dinner.

Steve Beals gave a great talk about how using old journals can clear up some misconceptions and help identify HLC mysteries. He cleared up some of the gray area surrounding the so called Harlequin perfume bottles, Serenade KK casseroles, Riviera compartment plate as well as some of the morgue items found in Huxford's Fiesta book.

Marv McNuss, mofiesta, had a discussion on Laughlin Art China. Joe Geisse, head modeler at HLC, gave a very informative lecture on how a piece of new Fiesta is made from idea to finished product. His talk centered around a Fiesta spoon rest. It was interesting to learn that the methods of the Art Dept at HLC (at least for the modelers) is a combination of experience and a little trial and error.

While the seminars were going on, there was a sale room. The images below are from Marv & Debbie McNuss' booth. To the left shows some Harlequin mavericks and look alikes. Note the three types of ducks -- the "normal" version, the one with his bill straight up and the third with his bill towards the ground. In the center is some Kenilworth and Laughlin Art China and on the far right are various HLC shapes: Wells, Harlequin, and even a Serenade teapot.

  

Keller & Ross had a great selection of HLC and some other potters. There were some pieces of TS&T's Vistosa with original labels, some Riviera shakers in a Chinese red glaze and, of corse, Fiesta.

Grant & Carol Martin and Dan Martens had a lot of Fiesta and Harlequin for sale. In particular was a set of Fiesta in its original box which came from the sixties since it had red, yellow, turquoise and medium green. I pulled out the sugar and noticed that it was unmarked. Usually these have an impressed Fiesta marking, but this one was clean with no hint of a mark.

Another neat item was a glass dripcut syrup which was done in brown. It was marked Dripcut with some other markings that I can't remember at the moment. It is shown with a turquoise and a yellow syrup.

Below are some of the various items that the Martins and Dan Martens had to offer. They are mainly of Fiesta and Harlequin.    

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I had just arrived in Newell the previous night after a 12 hour drive from South Carolina and was still exhausted from the long trip. When we got back to the conference (around 5:00 p.m.) most everyone had split up and was getting ready for the Awards Banquet and the keynote speaker. I said goodbye to Steve and wished him well on his 7+ day buying trip he'd be going on.

I didn't go to the banquet, but I heard that the speaker, Regina Lee Blaszczyk, was outstanding.

It was very nice to meet many people that I had known from other web sites and message boards and even emails: Shirley (TDL), Margorie, Saarin, Harvey, Marv and probably several others that I am forgetting at the moment. I saw some familiar faces like Judi (Ms. Bea), Joe, Bill, Brad and Sarah, Matthew, and again - I am probably forgetting a few others (SORRY!)

I did get to meet two people that I had heard of for several years but never met face to face: Jo Cunningham and Darlene Nossaman. They have visited the site in the past and had nothing but kind words and encouragement to offer. Our paths would cross again several times later in the week.

As I load all these images from the digital camera to the computer, I realize that there are very few which show people. Seems I concentrated more on the dishes than the people who keep this hobby (or mania) alive. Next time I'll have to make a point to do the following (1) go to the entire conference and (2) remind myself that there's more to this than just pieces of colored clay.