2007 Honeymoon in Ireland – Maggi and I were married on February 17, 2007. On February 18th we left for our honeymoon, 2 weeks in Ireland. While driving around the country we found several insulators, including a large glass multipart!
1998 Hemingray Dump Trip – One heck of a memorable trip. Visited Shaun Kotlarsky up in Michigan and Bob Stahr in Indiana, saw the home of the Hemingray family, took a tour of the old Muncie factory grounds, and of course dug for Hemingray goodies! Also found a few great pieces in the antique shops out that way.
1997 Trip to Greece – In 1997 my family and I traveled to Greece to visit family on my mother's side. Over there, I found several downed poles, and even met a distant cousin who collected Greek insulators! Seriously, what are the odds?!
NIA National Shows
2021 Farmington National – Our family's first National insulator show since 2017! We combined our trip from Colorado to New Mexico with a follow-on trip to the Grand Canyon and other National Parks on the way home.
2017 Colorado Springs National – A National less than an hour away from me? Count me in! I displayed my collection of Hemingray embossing errors, sold a good portion of my Hemingray collection, and obtained a piece that had been on my wanted list for 25 years!
2014 Farmington National – With a national only 7 hours away from me, I had to be there. To make it even better, my dad Bud came along for the road trip, our first insulator show together in years.
2012 Kansas City National – My first national show in 16 years! I had a display, my first national sales table, and picked up a lot of embossings I was looking for. It was a great show!
1996 Long Beach National Show – This was the second National show I had attended, and the first one that I was actually involved with (being a displayer as well performing piano at the awards ceremony). This was also where I met Shaun Kotlarsky, Bob Stahr, and Bill Meier, now all my good Hemi buddies!
Other Shows
2009 Double D Tailgater – Hosted by Dwayne Anthony and Dave LeForge. Another new show for us! This one was held in Grand Terrace, CA in a neat little park hidden behind some industrial buildings.
2009 San Diego Bottle Show – I had never gone to this show before, but we decided to drop in and visit, since we were down in the area for the weekend. I got 3 nice Hemi pieces. The rest of the trip was fun too!
2000 Dwayne's House – This was the first insulator event I had attended after a three year hiatus, so it was quite memorable. And the small atmosphere was great! I really hope Dwayne decides to throw another one of these someday (we'd be glad to help out, Dwayne! :)
1996 Bakersfield Journal – The Bakersfield show was the first show I had ever attended starting in 1993, but it wasn't until this show that I kept a journal. This would end up being the only Bakersfield journal I kept, though, because of the insulator collectors migrating to the Tulare show.
1995 Visalia Western Regional Show – This was the first show I ever displayed at, as a Junior. This journal wasn't written until 1996, so it is quite short.
California Insulator Shows
Cayucos, CA
2009 Cayucos Journal – Last year was the "Year of Spools", this year was the "Year of Floor Tubes". I picked up a few more styles of Hemingray floor tube insulators I didn't have, and a couple of other embossings I was looking for.
2008 Cayucos Journal – I brought along my new Laugh Lines book, which sold pretty well, and I got several Hemingray spools that had been on my wanted list for a long time, including a CD 1053 D-519.
2007 Cayucos Journal – I didn't write a journal for 2006, so this one makes up for it! I brought along my wife for the first time and got the #3 insulator on my wanted list, a CD 291!
2005 Cayucos Journal – This year I displayed my collection for the first time in five years, had a sales table, picked up a few pieces, and had an all-around good time.
2004 Cayucos Journal – Another great year! This was the first year I drove up on my own and met my dad at the show (he currently lives in Cayucos). Also won the raffle three times, including the grand prize!
2003 Cayucos Journal – This year was my dad's and my first sales table, which was a fun experience and most likely one that will be repeated in the future.
2002 Cayucos Journal – 10th Annual Cayucos Show, and I believe it's the 8th one my father and I have attented. I came out of this show with a few Hemi pieces that had long been on my wanted list, and after the show included a beautiful scenic drive. (Includes pictures).
2000 Cayucos Journal – Unfortunately, this journal is incomplete. Probably part of the reason was this was before I had the iBook laptop to take with me to the show to record the events as it happened, and this was also my first display as a non-junior, so my mind was not on journaling!
1997 Cayucos Journal – Well, this is when I started going into detail about Hemingray purchases. It makes for a slightly longer read, but maybe some people will find it interesting. After the show, we also went to the Pleasanton outdoor fair with friends of the family.
1996 Cayucos Journal – This was my first Cayucos journal and the second insulator journal I kept. Consequently, it doesn't go into much detail about the insulators I bought (which might be a relief to some people who don't wish to wade through insulator terms!)
Tulare, CA
2008 Tulare Journal – After a 3-year hiatus, it was good to be back to the Tulare show. There weren't a lot of purchases at this show, but we still had a good time!
2005 Tulare Journal – My first sales table at Tulare, and I miss the whole first day of the show! But I'd say I made up for it on Saturday.
2004 Tulare Journal – I had a lot of fun at this show. I became a NorCal member, found three pieces on my wanted list, and generally had a good time.
2003 Tulare Journal – This was my first show in 11 years that I attended on my own, without my dad. I picked up a couple good pieces here, including a CD185 Jeffrey and an unlisted CD147 Patent'd.
2002 Tulare Journal – This was the second Tulare show my father and I had ever attended, and this particular one was the first in five years! From now on, however, we will be attending this show annually as well as the Cayucos show.
1997 Tulare Journal – The Bakersfield show was for the most part abandoned by insulator collectors and replaced with the Tulare show in 1997, which we attended for the first time.
Merzoian Bros. (Porterville)
2008 Merzoian Tailgater – This year we picked up my dad in Los Osos and all drove over to Porterville. I picked up a couple of pieces that were on my long-time wanted list, and a few unexpected pieces as well.
2007 Merzoian Tailgater – This was the first Merzoian show that my dad did not attend, but my wife Maggi accompanied me instead. Add a few pieces that are on my wanted list, and it was a fun show!
2005 Merzoian Tailgater – I may have only bought a couple of insulators, but we all had a great time!
2004 Merzoian Tailgater – I attended this show with almost all of my money already spent, but I walked away with 5 pieces off my wanted list and a plaque under the crossarm my dad and I donated last year. Alright!
2003 Merzoian Tailgater – The 2nd Annual tailgater thrown by the Merzoians turned out to be great fun! We had a club meeting, I was appointed club Committee Chairman, and I got to donate a crossarm. Read all about it!
