Meister Steiners of Illinois - June 7, 2008
at the home of Fred and Joanne Ellis
in Beaver Creek, Wisconsin
A warm breeze was blowing on a bright sunny Saturday morning as we prepared to enter the Ale Caves. Not knowing what to expect, there were whispers "watch out for bats" and our guide wanting to know if everyone remembered to bring a flashlight? Then one by one we entered into the Cave. The Cave was manmade, back in the early to mid 1800’s. From the entrance tunnel to the back of the cave is about 50 feet. The room is approximately 25’ by 30’ with 3 air holes spaced 6’ to 8’ apart in the 12’ high ceiling. It holds a constant temperature of 54 degrees summer and winter. (I might be off a little on the temperature, I didn’t write it down.). Originally used to store the homemade ale, today, it sits empty except for the occasional drifter, or high school kids trying to have private parties. It is located about a mile from the city limits in Beaver Creek, Wisconsin and the owners try not to call attention to it, for the afore mentioned reasons.
After that it was off to the spend the rest of the meeting at the Ellis’. They have a lovely home and their personal collections were treasurers to behold. Snacks, conversation and games filled our time until the meeting started. There were about 40 people in attendance. Four from the Wisconsin club, about 14 from the Minnesota club and the balance were Meister Steiner’s.
After a brief joint meeting with an update on how the Mini Convention is progressing and some discussion about getting shirts with a logo, there was discussion of giving a SCI membership to the owners of the Ale Cave for being such gracious host/tour guide.
We then split into our respective clubs and had our meeting.
Stan Loula gave his finance report, and after using $50. opening an account for the convention we have $1136.00 balance.
Our next meeting will be Saturday, September 6th at the Holiday Inn Chicago, North Shore hotel for the mini convention to tie up loose ends and make sure everything is flowing smoothly.
There is also talk of getting a committee for updating our bylaws. All interested parties should contact Nancy or Jack Strand.
The next SCI Convention will be held October 2 – 9 (2009) in LasVegas, Nevada. Palace Station Hotel will be the convention location.
SCI is looking for a secretary. It is a two-year term. Please contact Jack Strand if you are interested in the position.
We
moved to the garage where tables and chairs were set up. Lyn Ayres had a slide
projector and screen waiting to educate us on the wonders of the J. W. Remy
Stein Company.
Lyn is the Librarian for SCI and his knowledge of steins and his presentation was fascinating. He was stationed in Germany during his stint in the Army. He returned home with 44 wall clocks, 16 grandfather clocks and 15 beer steins.
About half way into his presentation Mother Nature decided to bring on a horrific storm with tornado warnings that sent us all to the basement. After a few minutes of getting things set up, Lyn was able to continue. The J. W. REMY Company was founded in 1864 and continued till 1966, closing due to ongoing financial losses.
Lyn brought samples of the steins showing the different finishes and thumb lifts predominate with REMY steins. Lyn educated us on the identifying characteristics such as: base marks, inlays, handles, thumb lifts and capacity marks.
I was going to try to attach his presentation, but my home computer is not up to it, and my boss frowns on my using the company scanner for personal business.
Terry
Kelzer was kind enough to forward pictures she shot during the day. I am
including a shot of the Stein cake Joann provided for dessert……..Yum!
It tasted as good as it looked.
Janell Fisher