A great tragedy struck our world on 11 September, and things will never quite be the same again. It was with great sadness that we gathered for our quarterly club meeting in September just five days after the tragic events in the United States, and we voted unanimously to record the following motion in the club’s records:

"In light of the callous terrorist attacks in the United States on 11 September the members of the Carnival Glass Collectors Association of Australia wish to offer their sincere condolences and unstinting support to their fellow carnival glass collecting colleagues in the United States. As does our nation, we too stand beside you in this time of national grief."

We also voted unanimously to send this message to our friends in the USA via the newsletters of the various US based carnival glass clubs. At press time it would appear that the message either has or will appear in the newsletters of approximately 10 carnival glass clubs across the United States. United we stand, divided we fall.

On a brighter note, 16 members attended our September meeting on a beautiful, warm spring day in Sydney - the rest of you must still be in winter hibernation! Iris & John Westren have a beautiful home overlooking the Georges River in Lugarno, and I thank them for their wonderful hospitality.

The theme for the ‘Show & Tell’ table was ‘A rose by any other name’ – rose bowls and patterns with roses, and as usual some beautiful glass was brought along to be seen and enjoyed by all. The general show & tell table also revealed some wonderful glass, including what would have to be the largest carnival glass insulator I have ever seen. Patricia Nissen was the proud owner of this Goliath, and we decided that we would have a competition to guess its weight at a future meeting.

We have agreed on the schedule of meetings for next year, and their location, and the ‘Show & Tell’ themes for these meeting. The locations are varied again, so there should be at least one meeting close to where you live. If you haven’t been to a meeting yet, or for a while, we would love to see you, so please make an effort to come along and share in some fellowship with your fellow carnival glass collectors. The main value in belonging to this club lies in the regular get togethers – learning from each other, sharing our latest finds, and having fun together.

The Christmas meeting this year will be held at the home of Ray & Olive White in Bathurst on Sunday, 25 November. Please see elsewhere in this newsletter for details on finding their home. Ray & Olive are putting on a beautiful BBQ lunch for us which will cost you $10 per head. All you need to bring is your drinks. But, for catering purposes, please let Ray & Olive know at least one week before the meeting if you will be attending. In addition to the usual raffle, we will be holding a Dutch auction, and we will also be exchanging Christmas gifts, so please along something for the raffle, something for the Dutch auction, and something for the Christmas gift exchange, as well as your contributions for the show and tell table.

I wish you all a very safe and merry Christmas, and a great year in 2002.

Wayne Delahoy
President