Patrick had recently returned from San Francisco where he had purchased a huge collection of fine badges and accessories from the Tim Calvert collection. Tim was certainly the "go to" guy for Luftwaffe badges. Everybody knew him and, in fact, the Wehrmacht Awards Forum had named the Luftwaffe badge section in his honor after his passing from ALS.
This, along with hundreds of "fresh items", really made our display pop. One of the signs I had out on the table said more than 25% of the items on display were recent purchases. The feedback from customers and friends is certainly a motivation to continue this trend.
The Ruptured Duck display
Once again, I was amazed by the number of new customers we met at this show who said it was their first SOS and they came because they saw what I had written about the show. It goes to show that it pays to advertise. I can honestly say that everybody I met for the first time told me it was well worth their while and they would be back again.
This year the weather was cooperative but more seasonal. There were rain showers and the threat of flooding was looming. My team's 17-hour trek back to Massachusetts was a real adventure with heavy rains and high winds for part of the journey. We have to remind ourselves that it's still February and Mother Nature is in control.
Expo Center straight ahead!
Once again, like last year, I had a good feeling about this show because a number of people had asked me to bring items to the show to look at. This did, in fact, happen and resulted in many sales so I am a happy camper.
Bill showing this well marked lid
Buying was, as always, very good, considering I never left my tables at all during show hours.
some brand new acquisitions
Based on an incident that occurred at a gun show several months ago, the future of the show at this location looked doubtful. Thankfully, the Board of Directors at OVMS was able to convince the heads of the EXPO Center that we are, indeed, a valid organization that plays by the rules.
picture courtesy of the OVMS
T
he organization, rules and regulations adhered to by the sponsor, which is the Ohio Valley Military Society, are fair and consistent, and this makes for a well-organized show. Once again, my
hat
is off for all the hard work and dedication by the officers and volunteers.
Jacob and his first historical helmet
Virtually everybody I spoke with said they had a good show whether they were just attending or selling. I talked to a number of collectors who said they were able to find items from their most wanted list because the selection at the show is so varied.
One of the highlights for me was the opportunity to meet and interact with so many people who had previously purchased my book
and the feedback is a tremendous motivation for me to continue to work hard on future volumes.
Once again, the icing on the cake for us was the privilege to sponsor a veteran at the show. Larry Eads of the OVMS does a great job coordinating this and we are proud to be a part of this effort to show our gratitude to these great Americans. There were more than a dozen veterans in attendance ranging from WWII to "Desert Storm".
Each of the past five years we have sponsored a veteran. This year, we actually sponsored two brave veterans who were flyers that served with the famous Tuskegee Airmen!
Colonel Charles McGee
served our country for over 30 years and had the distinction of flying over 6000 total hours with 1,151 of these being in combat. He is the only known fighter pilot to have flown more than 100 combat missions in WWII, Korea and Vietnam.
