The blanks, the guides, the thread, etc. were interesting and much to my wife’s dismay; I brought home a bunch of stuff. But the people are what really made “The Show”. For those of you who couldn’t attend, here are a few thumbnail sketches of some of the people I met:

Putter- didn’t look anything like I thought he would. I had him pictured as a silver-haired grampa type. Wrong. This guy is basically out of control with this marbleizing thing. Probably needs to switch to decaf. I understand that the Charlotte P.D. was pretty annoyed about the marbleized parking meters.

Bob McCamey- never met a stranger in his life. Never, ever. Great guy who knows his ice cubes and could sell them to Eskimos.

Roger Seider- just as down to earth a guy as you’d ever want to meet but accepts no responsibility for getting people addicted to rod building.

Ken Preston- great guy who endured my constant string of questions all weekend. I like his philosophy about rod building that goes something like …”When in doubt, do something and see what happens.”

Bill Stevens- very talented guy who informed us that rod builders as a group may actually now qualify for “cult” status.

Tom Kirkman- Tom is the perpetual motion machine of the rod building scene. Deserves many, many accolades for producing “The Show.” Also reassures beginners that it’s OK to deviate from the norm, break the rules, see what works and what doesn’t.

Andy Dear- where else are you going to find a guy to help you sort through a huge container of bargain-basement blanks to find just the right one you’re looking for?

The Mudhole crew- just as nice and helpful in person as they are on the phone.

Mark Crouse- absolutely the Leonardo da Vinci of the rod building world.

The Batson boys- the epitome of a customer-oriented company. Even in a crowded, elbow to elbow exhibit, these guys took all of the time needed to discuss specific questions.

The Seminar Presenters- the common theme among all of the seminar presnters was the intense desire for everyone to succeed at rod building. Where else do you find that type of behavior in our world these days?

The Fly Fishing group in attendance- couldn’t understand what all the rod-building fuss was about. Some wondered aloud why the rod building aisle was so crowded.

Everyone else- in meeting all of the other exhibitors and rod builders, I didn’t meet a single person all weekend that I wouldn’t loan my chainsaw to.

Thanks to Tom and everyone else for the hard work in putting on a great show!!

Pete Kornegay

I echo thost comments and would only add a few more. Ralph O'Quinn and Joe Kassuba in the Trondak booth were great. I don't know why they do what they do but I'm glad they do it. Jimi Ellis was fantastic and helped me out with a couple problems I've been having with inscriptions and decals. Ron Schneider and his wife are great down home people. I only wish their booth had been more open so I could have plundered through more "stuff".

I also agree that all the excitement was in the rod building show. I spent a couple hours Saturday afternoon wandering the ailses in the fly flishing show. Not much going on. The rod building show was a totally different atmosphere. Much more busy and much more stuff. I have to think the rod building show is pretty much carrying the fly fishing side at this point.

Pete Kornegay Wrote:
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I didn’t meet a single person all weekend that I wouldn’t loan my chainsaw to.



Where I come from, that's about as high a compliment you can give someone. Wish I could have been there!

Hey, Dundee, if you or Pete lend me your chainsaw, expect it back in as good of condition as when you loaned it and for it to sport a new marble job!!

hahahhah Randy.

I do have this motorcycle however.......

I agree with all the above observations but I want to give kudos to Andy Dear's darling wife Emily. Just a lovely and gracious person who demonstrated great charm and poise in the midst of the madness. Oh, and she kindly let me put my handful of blanks and components in their booth while I continued to shop and didn't get mad when I knocked a box of cork foregrips off the table, through the curtain and into the casting area. Nice work Andy-she's a keeper! Hope to see you both next year.

I had the pleasure of sharing supper Sunday night with this wonderful couple and others; she's definitely a keeper, Andy! Please email the picture of all of us when you get it on the computer. It was really nice of Emily to take the picture for all of us!! Thanks, Ken Preston!!!!!!!!!!
The supper was the cap of the weekend, that's for sure!

Putter

William,

In case you haven't heard, Ralph will heretofore be known as "The Legendary Ralph O'Quinn."

...................

I also heard from the Grapevine that Roger may be prosecuted for insider trading when he advised Ralph to sell his 3M stock just before the announcement of the new materials and tooling for the Flexcoat Arbors. Tape sales worldwide plummeted! I was present for the above referenced annointing and it truly was "priceless".

Gon Fishn

Gon Fishn

I had a great discussion with Dr. Hanneman who explained some things about the CCS which I feel will help me a ton in some things I want to do.

Y'know those video swing analyzers?
Hmm.