Spring Into Boxing Gathering Report

Yesterday was a fun day spent with new and old friends. When we arrived, there were about 40 boxers in the room and at times later in the day, the count exceeded 50. People came from near and far - with Marmalade, from Portland, OR traveling the farthest. Celtic Quinn hopped a bus for some 11 hours from home, near Buffalo, NY to make this event as well as Butterfly's granddaughter, Heaven from CO, who was visiting and joined us for the day. The weather looked threatening at times, so our hosts, MayEve and Wild Rover hid the "day only" boxes around the facility and on the grounds of the beautiful Riverside Community Center in Glastonbury, CT.



Group shot


This is the first time Sue & I have attended an event and just stayed put. Normally, we're scurrying around, looking for the event boxes in the area. At this gathering, we just remained inside and spent a nice afternoon getting to know new boxers and spending time with old friends. It was great to just have a leisurely afternoon - talking, exchanging, eating, and stamping, of course.



Music Woman demonstrates a carving technique



Krusty Krab, daughter of Wild Rover, carves a crustacean creation!



MayEve shows us one of her pre-assembled kit for the logbooks


Highlights included a stamp carving class by Music Woman and a Japanese stab bookbinding session by MayEve. Both were very instructional and the attendees seemed to get a lot out of them! These sessions help improve the quality of letterboxes that are put forth since it translates into better carved stamps and more creative boxes that include specially-designed logbooks that carry through the theme of the stamp, location and logbook - that symbiotic relationship that we all try to achieve in a good letterbox.


RTRW and Bandaid at the logbook-making class



Sue puts together a logbook - look for it in one of our new boxes soon!



"Letterboxing 101" Display by Sojourner

Another hit at the gathering was Sojourner's "Letterboxing 101" display, which made it's premiere at last month's Ice Scream gathering in MA. Not only was the display educational, it covered every question you might have about letterboxing. Sojourner also made up some small brochures with all of the same information as the display for those that wanted to bring them home and read more thoroughly. This educational component at gatherings is something we've long advocated at gatherings and hope to see it continue with displays, classes, etc.



Letterboxing 101 brochure



MayEve, proud grandmother, with her granddaugher Samantha



Celtic Quinn from NY and Marmalade from OR exchange their sig stamps


The event stamp was wonderfully-carved by RTRW, who we believe, is one of the best carvers in New England, if not the country. The subject was the seal of the town of Glastonbury.



The best boots award went to Bookworm!



Heaven, Butterfly's granddaughter, can't believe the fun she's having!



The raffle table with many great prizes


Close to 3:30, after an afternoon of fun, Wild Rover began the raffle. There were many duplicate winners, with some winning 2 and 3 times. Can't say too much about that since Sue & I won twice and ended up with 2 lock-n-locks with homemade logbooks and inkpads inside! All we need to do is add a stamp.



Vintage Speedball set - how sweet is this?
Thanks to Marmalade for helping me with the setup of this shot!



Closeup of the contents of this wonderful collectible


The highlight of the raffle, for us, was a vintage Speedball set that was purchased on eBay. This collectible was complete with it's original box and all of the handles and cutting blades. Thanks to Little Monkey, winner of the prize for letting us photograph and drool over this great prize! Someone even mentioned that the blades were still sharp!

Thanks go to MayEve and Wild Rover for once again throwing a great gathering that was so enjoyed by all. It was wonderful attending a gathering in CT where we didn't know about half of the attendees. The new blood coming into this game is growing exponentially and their exposure early on in their boxing careers can only benefit them in knowledge of the game - and ultimately, the letterboxing community as a whole.



The traditional group photo courtesy of Music Woman
The photo was taken late in the day after some boxers had left