FALL MEETING, SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2008
Sturbridge Host Hotel, Sturbridge, MA
Meeting Highlights by Les Tyrala
There were 133 attendees, 30 vendor and chapter tables, and 16 Silent Auction Items. Registration began at 7:30 AM with nametags available for pre-registered members. At 8:00 AM, the Mart opened to general entry. As usual, the Silent Auction was from 8:30 AM to 10:15 AM, and a fee of $3.00 per item, multiple items for one bid to count as one item, was charged. Throughout the meeting until the President’s lunch-time message, the 50-50 raffle tickets, (50% to winner and 50% to Chapter 8) were available at the Registration Table, the Auction Table, and from council members.
October Program
At 9:00 AM Tom McIntyre gave a presentation entitled, “Ezra C. Fitch, Inventor and Businessman,” that focused on his role as President of the Waltham Watch Co. from 1883 to 1921. Ezra was the inventor of numerous improvements that are so common that few realize they are really inventions. His earliest invention was the latch for nail setting watches, commonly called Fitch’s Patent nail setting. His final patent was the Resilient Dial Foot, a hollow foot for dials that prevents damage to the dial from over-tightening the dial foot screws. The first patent was in 1872 and the last in 1929. Tom McIntyre was elected 2nd Vice President of the NAWCC in 2003. With the reorganization of the NAWCC in 2003 and his election to the 2005-2009 Board of Directors, Tom continues to be involved in the development of the organization.
The 10:30 AM talk by Bob Pauplis, "The Calendar and Calendar Mechanisms,” covered the subject of our present Gregorian calendar and how it functions with a short comparison to the Julian calendar. The talk described different calendar mechanisms from simple to true perpetual with operational information and limitations of each type. Bob is an electrical engineer and mechanical designer. Over the past several years, Bob has performed considerable research on perpetual calendar mechanisms and other complications and hopes to include several of these in a future clock design and build.
After lunch and comments from the Chapter President, Larry Chelmow, the 12:30 PM, Luncheon Program, “One Man’s Odyssey in Clock Collecting,” was given by Tom Grimshaw. His PowerPoint presentation described how he got started at an early age, made good, bad, and sometimes amusing decisions, who influenced him, how he became knowledgeable, and the route he took to build his collection. His collection of early production American clocks is arguably one of the best in the country. Tom needs little introduction as his knowledge and expertise is well known to many of us. He is the author of several Bulletin articles, former president of American Clock and Watch Museum, and is longtime clock and watch collector and researcher. Tom is a retired hospital administrator and currently a management consultant.
Public Project: Les Tyrala, Chapter 8 Secretary, volunteered recently to maintain a steeple clock located in the First Parish Unitarian Church in Norwell, MA.
Upcoming Events: Willard House & Clock Museum Workshop in May – date TBD
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PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
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Another summer gone - hope everyone has had a great summer. The combined chapters’ picnic at Wilbraham was not as well attended as we had anticipated, but still a success. We had approximately 30 more attendees than last year when it was only a Chapter 8 event. We hope that all the chapters are willing to try this again next year. I believe it has great potential to develop into a larger meeting that would benefit all members that attend by providing an opportunity to get to know other collectors.
I would like to make some comments about the Educational Symposium that will be held on September 13th (I'm writing this before the Symposium). We are somewhat puzzled by the relatively small number of registrations. The program is outstanding and we believe the price is very reasonable. We anticipated a much higher number of registrants for the event. Any thoughts on why we did not have more interest in the Symposium? If you have any ideas, please call me or see me at the meeting.
Looking forward to seeing you at the meeting.
-- Larry Chelmow
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REGISTRATION
NOTE: THE CUTOFF DATE is Sunday, Oct. 5th
Registrations by Oct. 5, 2008 are $20.
Registrations received after Oct. 5, 2008, and "walk-ins" are $25.
As always, registration includes your luncheon and is required for participation in any of the meeting activities. Mail registration to: New England Chapter 8, c/o Co-op Printing, P.O. Box 787, East Longmeadow, MA 01028
MEETING SCHEDULE
| 7:30 AM |
Registration name tags available for those members who preregistered.
Registration table open for "walk-ins". Mart area open for set-up by table holders only. |
| 8:00 AM |
Mart open (general entry); with closing at 11:45 A.M. for 12:00 Noon Luncheon.
(a watchman for Mart will be provided) |
| 8:30 AM |
Silent Auction Table will run from 8:30 to 10:15A.M. |
| 9:00 AM |
"Ezra C. Fitch, Inventor and Businessman." Tom McIntyre’s presentation is about Ezra Fitch who was President of Waltham Watch Co. from 1883 to 1921, and was the inventor of numerous improvements that are so common that few realize they are really inventions. His earliest invention was the latch for nail setting watches, commonly called Fitch’s Patent nail setting. His final patent was the Resilient Dial Foot, a hollow foot for dials that prevents damage to the dial from over-tightening the dial foot screws. The first patent was in 1872 and the last in 1929.
Tom was elected 2nd Vice President of the NAWCC in 2003. With the reorganization of the NAWCC in 2003 and his election to the 2005-2009 Board of Directors, Tom continues to be involved in the development of the organization.
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| 10:30 AM |
"The Calendar and Calendar Mechanisms." Bob Pauplis will give a talk about our present Gregorian calendar and how it functions with a short comparison to the Julian calendar. The talk further describes different calendar mechanisms from simple to true perpetual with operational information and limitations of each type.
Bob is an electrical engineer and mechanical designer. He has many years of experience with precision electro-mechanical instrumentation and, of course, clocks and watches. Over the past several years, Bob has performed considerable research on perpetual calendar mechanisms and other complications and hopes to include several of these in an upcoming clock design and build.
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| 11:45 |
Mart closes |
| 12:00 |
Noon Luncheon |
| 12:45 |
Luncheon Program:
"One Man’s Odyssey in Clock Collecting." Tom Grimshaw’s story of how he got started at an early age, made good, bad, and sometimes amusing decisions, who influenced him, how he became knowledgeable, and the route he took to build his collection. His collection of early production American clocks is arguably one of the best in the country: we will get to see images of some of the more interesting clocks and hear the stories behind them.
Tom needs little introduction as his knowledge and expertise is well known to us. He has been a member of NAWCC since 1971, author of several Bulletin articles, former president of American Clock and Watch Museum, made over 50 presentations to NAWCC groups, and is longtime clock and watch collector and researcher. Tom is a retired hospital administrator, currently a management consultant.
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The Silent Auction table (8: 30 to 10:15) - enables you to sell a few items without the need for a table:
Fill out a slip at the table with your minimum price you will accept for the item. Members can then write in their bids during the course of the auction.
The cost to you as a seller is only $3.00 PER ITEM. The charge is payable in advance and applies whether item sells or not (multiple items for one bid count as one item).
AND
At at the auction table you can buy a ticket for the 50-50 raffle.
SUITCASE CLOCK REPAIR COURSES
Victor Kozakevich, director of Chapter 8, manages the NAWCC Suitcase Program. If you are interested, contact him at a meeting or at 617-491-4608 (email: ).
Chapter Contacts:
If you any of you have a question or wish to contact someone in the chapter, get in touch with any of these people and they will get your message to the right person if they cannot help you.
2009 President Larry Chelmow
399 Chapman St., Canton, MA 02021
781-828-1626
2009 1st Vice Pres. Peter Nunes
4 Hopkins Lane, Peace Dale, RI 02879
401-789-6791
2009 2nd Vice Pres. Harold Lincoln
5 Ringbolt Road, Hingham, MA 02043
781-740-1190
2009 Treasurer Wayne Paskerian
5 Warren St., Winchester, MA 01890
781-729-0113
2009 Secretary Lester Tyrala
28 Curtis St. Quincy, MA 02169
617-479-2140
2009 Past President Burton Kassap
112 Bullough Park, Newtonville, MA 02460
617-332-0162
2011 Director Dave Deutermann
81 Kingman St, Lakeville, MA 02347
508-946-1082
2011 Director Joe Brown
7 Pheasant Ave. Sudbury, MA 01776
978-443-2284
2009 Director Martin Cohen
21 Dunbarton Rd, Belmont, MA 02478
617-484-8725
2011 Director Steve Chatlas
Orchard Rd, Box 216, Kensington, CT 06037
860-828-1743
2009 Director Victor Kozakevich
44 Sherman St., Cambridge, MA 02138
617-491-4608
2009 Director Joe Seremeth
23 George Allen Rd, W. Brookfield, MA 01585
508 867 7147
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