The Desert Steiners held their winter meeting on the 3rd Saturday in January at beautiful Skyline Country Club in Tucson, Arizona. Perhaps the 76° and sunny day, as well as a most interesting program, had something to do with the excellent turn-out we had for this meeting.

Members gathered at 11:00 to visit and swap stories about steins and related items of interest, as well as check out things on the display table concerning to the S.C.I. Convention in Las Vegas next October.

A “German lunch” was served shortly after noon. Members had a choice of wienerschnitzel or bratwurst, with all the trimmings, and soft drinks or local micro brews. After lunch, everyone introduced themselves and told of their area(s) of special interest which produced quite a few laughs. Then Chapter Treasurer (for life) Don Scheer reported we were solvent for at least another year. The next order of business was to announce the next meeting location and date, which will be in Mesa, Arizona on April 18th. Our speaker for our spring meeting will be S.C.I. President Phil Masenheimer, who will show us a PowerPoint presentation on occupational beer steins. Phil has a wonderful collection and we’re all anticipating a most interesting presentation.

Next was our featured speaker Joe Bent, a Rocky Mountain Steiners member from Ft. Collins, Colorado. Joe’s most professional PowerPoint presentation was entitled Bicycle Steins, but perhaps more accurately stated, steins with a bicycle motif. Joe and wife Peggy are avid bicycle riders, who travel around the country doing their thing, which is why they were in Tucson, supposedly “America’s most bicycle friendly city.” Joe showed us photos and described his extensive collection and related go-withs. His fine presentation was well received by everyone in attendance. Nice going Joe! Many thanks for your efforts on our behalf. We hope you and Peggy will come back some time.

Ron Heiligenstein then talked about long time friend Desert Steiner Richard Schwartz who died recently. He announced that Richard’s widow wanted to dispose of his collection, and everyone was invited to their home to make an offer on any of Richard’s steins. A good number of very nice steins changed hands as a result of Kitty Schwartz’s thoughtful invitation.

Ron Heiligenstein concluded the meeting with his regular Prosit Quiz, which is specifically intended to encourage everyone to maintain their membership in S.C.I. and to closely read every issue of Prosit. Answering nine out of ten questions was the winner Ron Gray followed by Gary Kirsner who answered eight questions correctly. Ron’s first prize was a video of the German movie Ludwig II. which was donated by Hanna Whittemore. Gary received a “nice try” for coming in second.

The meeting was adjourned around 3:00, and most of us then caravanned to the Schwartz’s home to check out Richard’s roughly 200 steins available for purchase.

Chapter Reporter,