Northern California Pipe & Cigar Show Report

During a wonderful balmy November day in Merced, the Tenth Annual
Northern California Pipe and Cigar Show took place at the Grizzly
Creek Grange Hall. Sponsored by the Fresno Pipe Club and the Merced
Pipe Club, the doors opened to the public at 10:00 A.M. on Saturday
the tenth. Attendees were each given a raffle ticket as they entered
for donated prizes which were given out during the day at three
different drawings. Prizes included pipes, tobacco and various and
sundry accessories, even including meerschaum cigar holders.

Building on last year's successful first foray into the Merced venue
after 8 solid years in Sacramento under Gary Malmberg's guidance, we
were anxious to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the event
appropriately. During the vendor set-up time early in the morning,
coffee was provided in the downstairs portion of the hall (Anecdotal
feedback indicated that the coffee got as strong as Dark Birdseye as
the day progressed). Submarine style sandwiches, soft drinks and water
were also provided downstairs at lunchtime for a nominal fee and
uniformly enjoyed by all.

The number of exhibitors was up from last year. This year's group
consisted of the following (in no particular order): Joel Shapiro,
Greg Pease, GRC Pipes, Mike Edborg, Ye Olde Pipe and Tobacco Shoppe,
Marty Pulvers, Tim Dowell, Charlie Scholl, Al Grosskopf, Rich Curll,
Tobacco Road, Carmel Pipe Shop, Les Sechler, Wayne Boyte, Mark
Lindner, Brian Burk, J. Alan Pipes, Lowell Ellis, Joe Cappel, Jack
Eisenhauer, Villiger Stokkebye, Intl., Tim Comstock, Bjarne Nielsen,
Pat Noakes, Cigar Monkey and Tobacco Barn. Also providing table
displays were the Fresno and Merced Pipe Clubs and Smokers Forums.
Unable to attend were Jim Ayers and Tom Pfaeffle. There were many
fascinating items for viewing and potential purchase or trade. Estate
pipes ranged from Tsuge, Becker and Butera to Stanwell, Kaywoodie and
Grabow. Tobacco abounded, with almost any conceivable current blend
being represented as well as many examples of vintage blends, e.g.,
Three Nuns, Cope's Escudo, Bengal Slices and hand blended mixtures
from the old Dunhill shop.

Pipe carvers were represented by Joel Shapiro of JS Pipes, Darius
"Christian" Dah of GRC Pipes and Jeff Gracik of J. Alan Pipes. Each of
them brought outstanding examples of the carver's art, attracting many
attendees and evoking many positive comments. Retail establishments
offered great selections of both new and estate pipes and accessories.
The sizable number of pipe collectors provided selections of pipes
that were almost impossible to grasp in a single day. A good deal of
trading seemed to be a favored activity. Jack Eisenhauer brought a
very large selection of sturdy and functional pipe racks. Cigar
interests were represented by Tobacco Barn, Cigar Monkey and Villiger
Stokkebye. Greg Pease did not disappoint by virtue of his bringing
generous sample jars of two new prototype blends; one an English and
the other a cigar leaf blend. Tins of vintage tobacco were scattered
throughout the show to further tempt the show goers. The Smokers
Forums table provided a place for the online attendees to gather and
to offer up items for sale or trade. As they did the previous year,
Mike & Janet Siegel, as the host vendors, did the major work of
securing the hall, tables and prizes. They also made sure that there
were ashtrays and pipe cleaners available to all attendees.

Drawing door prizes and freebies were provided by:

Villiger Stokkebye, Intl.
Cigar Monkey
Tobacco Barn
J. Alan Pipes
Ye Olde Pipe & Tobacco Shoppe
Tobacco Road
Carmel Pipe Shop
B.J. Long
Joe Giardina, pipe importer
R.D. Fields


The Fresno and Merced pipe clubs were invaluable in setting up the
show the previous day and in providing parking control, offering
directions, providing food and drinks and in take-down and clean up
after the show. As the last attendee and exhibitor filtered out at
5:00, attention was turned to Fernando's Bistro, the site of the post
show dinner. It was well attended, filling up four large tables. The
food and drink was good, discussions were lively and even included
speculations about details of next year's show. All in all, the day
was a success and we're looking forward to event number eleven.

Pictures of the show can be seen at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/clovis-man/sets/

Check back as more photos will be added to the site.

Regards,

Jim
.

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