ECBA

President's Message

Hello Fellow Members:

With the heat of summer just around the corner, my thoughts shift to our convention and other club conventions and shows, and opportunities to improve my collection. It seems second nature to me: warm weather equates to seeing more people, talking to more people about breweriana, getting more leads....

And, isn't that what collecting something is all about? The key word here is "people."

Although I do buy and sell on eBay -- and in recent months bought a rare Maryland coaster for nearly $1,000 --the common denominator in our hobby is people. For every rare coaster I've found and purchased on eBay, I've found 10 by being associated with "people."

At Blue-Gray some years ago I was sitting with some guys talking about this and that. I had my little notebook with pictures of what Maryland coasters I needed and passed it around the room. "I have that one," said one guy, and within hours he had gone home and returned with a nice black Bismarck for my collection.

Through the years I developed a relationship with a man and his wife from Baltimore. I didn't meet them online; I met them at a show or convention. He mentioned that his coasters, collected over a long period of time, were not displayed in his rathskeller, but packed away in boxes. One thing led to another, and I bought the collection, and it was delivered to me at the ECBA Somerset show. The result: four or five very difficult National Brewing Co. coasters, and an additional two from obscure Baltimore breweries no one had ever seen before.

I could go on with stories like this because there are many. These finds were made only because of the network of "people" developed by attending shows and conventions. Have I developed collecting friendships through the internet and activity as a coaster dealer? Absolutely. But, if I had a scorecard, contacts and relationships developed with collectors at shows and conventions far exceed those made through eBay.

The social environment of our convention brings "people" of like interests together. You may not "sell" or "buy" anything. I hear that all the time. But unless you are deaf and dumb or a social outcast, you'll talk with fellow collectors, and through that discourse, you win. Maybe not that day or week, but eventually you win.

With that being said, it's not too late to attend our 36th convention at Sunday River in Maine. It will lure New Englanders who normally do not attend our convention. New "people," new contacts, new networks. Check out our website at www.eastcoastbrew.com for details and quick registration.

Elsewhere in this mailing are flyers describing two fundraisers, affordable to all members, which will run into 2009. These projects will be sold at the convention, ECBA shows, through our website eastcoastbrew.com and other breweriana functions. Each of these projects will be done by coupon, and administered by Christine Levesque, who graciously accepted my request to be the chair.

.The first is a simple drawing for $600 to finance a trip to next year's convention, the location of which will be selected at Sunday River. (Planned for Reading, PA) The winner will be drawn at our March, 2009, show in Macungie, and the check presented upon registration at the 2009 convention. Yes, you must attend the convention to collect!

The second is a new “Super 50/50” drawing beginning now and running through the 2009 convention business meeting. It allows participants to “buy in” in increments of $12 (a dollar a month). Each $12 ticket gets you one ticket in the bucket. I anticipate this pot to be very big when the 2009 convention rolls around

	Good collecting!

	Bob Gornall robtgornall@yahoo.com