Saturday, July 2--the convention's second day. Peter Schaub, of Alexandria, Virginia started off the morning program with "Memories of Amateur Journalism." Peter joined the AAPA in 1965, recommended by David Wesson, but as is often the case, life happened; he became busy with other pursuits, and his amateur journalism career--including AAPA membership--was dropped, or at least put on long-term hold. But he rejoined early in 2008, after having looked us up on the internet, and has become active again. Peter gave a fascinating review of his participation in ajay, as a member both of NAPA and AAPA. His Powerpoint presentation showed copies of his amateur journal, "The Novelty Pressman," which he published as a 16-year-old prep school student. He also passed around samples for a close look, as he pointed up certain features of that publication.
Next on the program was "The Great Debate" between Dean Rea and Ivan Snyder. The old die-hard printers discussed AAPA affairs while setting type from their California type cases. During the conversation, they managed to offend almost everyone in attendance, and some that were absent--at least they tried their best to. The final conclusion was that the AAPA has something to offer to those who are interested in amateur journalism, and its members in turn can offer a lot to the AAPA.
After a lunch break, Marjorie Wilser, Dave Robison, and Tom Goglio discussed the San Jose Printers' Guild, each from a unique perspective. Their talks and the pictures shown certainly whetted the AAPA members' appetites for the visit to History Park Sunday.
George Hamilton officiated at the auction Saturday afternoon. George not only kept the audience entertained, but the auction turned out to be very successful. Proceeds from the auction totaled $900! Even so, quite a few AAPA and Guild members escaped with very valuable items for a truly bargain price!
Those attending the banquet Saturday evening had their choice of a vegetarian, fish, or chicken entree. After everyone had pleased their palates, there were a number of awards to be presented. George Hamilton announced the winner of the Marge Adams Petrone Limerick Contest: appropriately, this year's winner was Susan Petrone--who happens to be the daughter of Marge Adams Petrone! George continued the awards presentation by announcing this year's Laureate Award winners. George has served as on the Laureate Committee, along with Johanna Shipley and Shannon Adams. Pres. Mike O'Connor followed, with presentation of several "AAPA Stalwart" awards.
The speaker for the evening was none other than George W. Hamilton himself. George joined the AAPA in 1948, so he has a vast knowledge of ajay affairs. The title of George's talk was "The Next 75--Get More out of Ajay!" The audience became involved as George invited all to tell someone seated next to them some fact about themselves quite apart from their printing or ajay activities. George's point was that there are some fascinating, but unknown facts about every one of us, and how much more fun life could be if we begin to discover some of these facts. (Might be some excellent materials for a good many amateur journals, right?)
All that remained after adjournment was more interaction up in the Hospitality Suite, and that went on until close to midnight.
One delightful feature of this convention was the presence of a number of visitors. Mention has been made of the San Jose Printers' Guild members; Dave Tribby, Steve Robison, Matt Kelsey, and Kim Hamilton are AAPA members who belong to the guild (Kim joined the AAPA on Saturday); but in addition, Marjorie Wilser, Dave Robison, and Tom Goglio were with us. Former AAPA member Allan Stump stopped by for a while. Bay Area Book Artists members Linda Stinchfield and Karen Cutter were with us and gave an enjoyable display of numerous bookmaking techniques. And it was such an honor to have Susan Petrone's cousin Noelle Powell with us for the afternoon and evening. Noelle's mother was Ginny Adams, an AAPA member in past years, one of the "Youngstown Girls."
