FENTON FINDERS OF GREATER KANSAS CITY The meeting of the Fenton Finders of Greater Kansas City will be SATURDAY, JUNE 11TH, 2011 at the Raytown City Hall, 10000 E. 59th, and Raytown, Missouri. The meeting will start at 7:00 P.M. It is with regret that I must report that long time member Barbara Yackie passed away May 1st. We want to let her husband Al and their family know that they are in our thoughts and prayers. Please let them know how sorry we are for their lost. We are happy to report that Bob Grissom had some unexpected surgery but has quickly recovered and even managed to attend the HOAGGA convention shortly after the surgery. We also must let everyone know that Ada Kay Fetty has been very ill and she has been on everyone's mind. We all love Dave and his work but everyone who has been privilege to meet Ada Kay know that he is a very lucky man to have someone so special in his life. The last we heard Ada Kay is doing much better and is on the way back home if she is not already there. If you get a chance please let her know that she is in our thoughts and prayers.
Connie Duncan brought some samples of Fenton's new line of glass beads to the meeting. As you can see in the picture and the information packet that Fenton has given to their dealers they have used some of their old favorite and popular painted designs for the beads. At this time they only have one artist painting the beads, Truda Mendenhall; you will notice the Violets in the Snow as well as other favorite Louise Piper designs.
They have also included a Vasa Murrhina Collection. Because of the price of the ingredients to make the Vasa Murrhina beads the price is a little bit higher than the hand painted beads. The beads are lined with sterling silver and all have the Fenton logo. They have 12 workers producing the beads now. It will be interesting seeing how they well they do with this new line. It is the only line of glass beads that are made in the United States. There was more discussion of our bus trip. Bernie has done some checking and our driver from the 2nd bus trip we made to Fenton has retired and was unable to recommend anyone that could to take his place. Bernie is now checking into bus companies but has decided that the soonest that we would be able to make the trip is next year. Which might be good as Connie Duncan has contracted Kelsey Murphy to see if the invitation she extended last year was still open? It was. The invitation included a visit to her workshop where we could see where she creates her beautiful glass. There have been many other suggestions made as to where we could go as well as when. Bernie is listening to everyone and will let us know when he is able to come up with a firm plan as well as dates so that we will all have plenty of time to schedule their vacation time so that they can join us on the bus. There will be more in later newsletters. In the meantime some updates on the Gala. Dave Fetty and Delmar Stowasser will be our special guests. Our big display will be on the Barber collection and one of a kind Barber pieces. Without a doubt these two gentlemen are very well qualified to speak on this subject. As the main glass artisans to work on the collection they made most if not all of the glass he designed. They worked with Barber on the design as well as making the glass for the collection. Janet Wilke should be sending out packets with registration forms soon so be checking your mail. We are waiting to hear from Fenton on the special piece of glass that we are having made so we will update you with that information as soon as we can. Our luncheon and banquet is being planned and promises to be great. Joy and Connie are working hard to get us the best that the hotel can produce to make sure the food as well as the entertainment (seminars and special guests) are the best that we can get. We hope that you will find your attendance educational as well as lots of fun. The hospitality room is being planned and hopefully will be full of good food and good fun. It will open on Thursday as soon as we can get it running so that everyone who gets in early can get a bite to eat and start visiting with old friends in comfort while waiting (if needed) for their rooms to get ready. In other words the hospitality room will open around 11:30 or 12:00. This is something that we hate to put a firm time on as we will open as soon as we get it ready so all the people who are working on getting everything ready for the Gala needs to be able to get food and drinks so that they can work hard on all the
things that need to be done. So everyone who can, please bring something sweet or something for the sugar challenged among us. Don't forget the salads and other good things to eat that we can use to make our barbeque dinner on Thursday as great as it always is. So don't wait to get your reservations for your rooms at the Embassy Suites at 816-891-7788. The good thing about making your reservation early is that you have 24 hours before check in time to cancel if something comes up and you cannot make it to the Gala. Just make sure you get the reservations early so that you get the Gala rate. I also need to make a correction from the last newsletter, in it I said we had a Karnak Red Hanging Hearts footed bowl, it is really a Karnak Red Hanging Vine footed bowl. It can be difficult to tell the difference for someone like me but there are differences. Please take the time to check out our website as there has been more pictures added to the auction pictures and you will be able to make plans on what you would like to take home with you. The address is fentonfinderskc.net. Sorry for any confusion my mistake caused. Joy Livengood has contributed article for what I would like to call Favorite Fenton Memories and she has called: "A Special Gift from Grandma" As a little girl, I loved going to my grandma's house. As I recall, she had all the stuff every little girl would want to look at, touch, play with and admire. She always had knick knacks and things scattered about her house but some of them were "off limits" and I could only look at them from a distance. As I grew up, I came to appreciate the many things my grandma owned. She frequently passed along to me many of her knick knacks that I still have to remember her by. Some of her "things" were boxed up and given to me after she passed away but I would not look in that box until years later. There were times that my husband, children and I would visit grandma and grandpa. On occasion we videotaped some of the visits as keepsakes. Several years ago, as I was cleaning and organizing things in the house, I ran across one of those old videotapes that we filmed at grandma's house, I sat in front of the television and watched the images play across the screen. There was grandma's couch, grandma, grandpa and their living room. Suddenly the videotape danced across the wall of their living room. I spied a shelf and on the shelf was a Fenton Silvercrest vase with Charleton decorations. I could not believe my eyes!!!
I stopped the videotape and reversed it. I re-ran the tape several times as the video scanned across the wall. Sure enough! There it was... a Fenton Silvercrest vase with Charleton decorations. It was for real. Then I wondered, where had that vase gone. Did my dad have it? Did my brother or sister have it? When asked, nobody had seen it. I thought maybe it had been sold during their auction as I did not collect Fenton at that time, much less know it WAS Fenton! So, I decided I should look in my boxes. I found it wrapped in paper just waiting for me to find! I tore the paper off of it and felt like grandma was right there with me as I admired the Charleton decoration and the silvercrest and cried. The ironic part of this tale is that I didn't start collecting Fenton until grandma was already gone. Discovering that she had a fondness for a piece of Fenton made it more meaningful that I now collect Fenton. Even though the little Silvercrest vase with Charleton decorations isn't the most expensive or rare piece of Fenton I possess, it may very well be the most precious piece that I have. Now my granddaughters come to my house and always ask if they can "find" my newest Fenton. They can always identify my newest pieces...but that is another story. However, they each have their favorites that I will pass along to them when the time is right. Thanks Grandma for that surprise gift. Thank you, Joy for sharing your wonderful memory. If anyone else would like to contribute a Favorite Fenton Memory or has some information about their favorite collectible that will help educate other collectors please send it to me at 10903 Elmwood Dr. KCMO 64137 or email it to me at stogles@yahoo.com. It will help us all be better collectors. Please update your roster with William Gillespie new mailing address, PO Box 7972 Shrewsbury, NJ 07702. Our program for June will be Violets in the Snow, it will be a group program so everyone who has some (and very few Fenton collectors don't have at least one or two pieces of Violets in the Snow) please bring your treasures in to share with our members. It was one of the first decorations that Louise Piper did for Fenton and Fenton is still using it today as a decoration on their glass beads. Dan and Claudia Hegweld are bringing in refreshments (I love refreshments). Don't forget to bring in at least one piece of glass for show and tell. Until then take care of yourself and your Fenton collection. Jackie Oglesby, Secretary