V O L U M E 3 2 I S S U E 1 P A G E 7
Keeping Pace — Jay Martin
Well , here we are again . The high today reached a “ toasty ” zero degrees , welcome to January on the frozen tundra . Makes me question my sanity of living here . Seems like a good day to stay inside and see where my mind leads me on this typewriter . If you missed the Batch Christmas party , you certainly missed a good time . Plenty of beer , food , laughs and beer fellowship . The money that the Hamm ’ s raffle generated has put the Border Batch in an enviable position and has assured the long term financial health of this club . Special thanks to Mr . Miner for the Hamm ’ s sign . And really , I ’ d like to just say thanks to all the members for participating and supporting this chapter and the common bond that gets us together throughout the year .
Just recently there was an article in the Wall Street Journal about the BCCA and collecting in general . A couple of the things that I found to be interesting was that , membership now , is at 3,570 from a peak of 11,954 in 1978 . And , of the 3,570 current members , only 19 are under the age of 30 . What does this tell you ? It tells me , that the long term health of the BCCA is not a rosy picture . Of course the vision is to get more young people interested in collecting and join the BCCA . Have you ever heard the phrase , “ You can lead a horse to water but , you can ’ t make him drink ”. My point is , you can not get anybody interested in something , that they are not interested in . You need to be interested in collecting something in the first place , then you search out if there is anyone else like you .
I know that I have beat this horse in past articles but , what the heck , I ’ ll beat it again . For me , I questioned even paying my BCCA dues this year and as of this writing , I still have not renewed . Dues are 45 bucks for a family membership and it just seems like a lot of cash , just to get a magazine 6 times a year . I find myself attending the local shows much more and would rather put my cash into a local chapter that I can frequent their shows , rather then driving across the country for a national show . I also find myself not overly interested in collecting a whole lot anymore . If I pick up something at a show , that is fine but I really don ’ t care if I get something or not . For me , the hobby has become more a beer fellowship kind of thing . Anyway , this of course is only how I see it .
Since I got that off my chest , I ’ m looking for Schells Christmas ornaments from 1995 and 1998 . If anyone has extra of these years , let me know . I ’ m sure we can make a deal . Speaking of this , Teri and I went looking for ornament hangers . We looked most everywhere we could think of , to no avail . Finally went online to Bronners Christmas store in Frankenmuth , MI . This is the largest Christmas store in the world , ( or so they say , whoever “ they ” are ) and we can pretty much testify to that . We stopped there a few years back on our way to Canvention in Detroit . Actually got lost in the store , it is huge . Well , they had the ornament hangers I was looking for and at 2 bucks a piece it seemed cheap . Now my Schells ornaments are looking pretty in our curio cabinet .
Here is the quote of the day . So said Stubie , who liked to drink beer . “ To me it is perfectly clear , the more suds you drink , the better you think .” And then he fell on his ear . Jay Martin
• Sat , Feb 20 , 2010 Hamm ’ s Show , Medina , MN hammsclub @ hammsclub . com
• Sat , Mar 20 , 2010 @ 1:00 p . m . Border Batch Chapter Meeting , Steve Miner Residence , , Winnebago , MN
• 3 Day Beer & Breweriana Trade Show Weekend . Friday & Saturday in Sioux Falls , SD and Saturday Night & Sunday in New Ulm , MN brought to you by the Dakota Chapter & Schell ’ s Border Batch
• Fri & Sat , Apr 16 & 17 , 2010 , Dakota Chapter , Dakota Chapter Show , Sioux Falls , SD Bob Post stickshack @ earthlink . net
• Sun , Apr , 18 , 2010 @ 10:00 a . m . Schell ’ s Border Batch , “ A Day at August Schell ”, A . Schell Brewing Co ., New Ulm , MN Tom Terwilliger # 28855 , 515-295-7819