Collector in Chief?

This past weekend former President Bill Clinton, who was campaigning in West Virginia, did some shopping at the Blenko Glass factory in Milton, WV. It seems he needed to do some Mother's Day shopping and one of his security detail recommended Blenko. The former president loved the idea, since the family apparently collects glass. Sources at the factory said among his purchases were several pieces from the Bravo line (designed by the Bayliss Team) and Blenko paperweights. More info about President Clinton can be found here.

Glass Karma

When I found this really nice decanter, a 639 decanter designed by Wayne Husted. It was grungy, dirty and appeared to be "sick" (more on that later) I paid an appropriate amount for such a piece. However when I got home, I cleaned and scrubbed it and to my surprise it totally cleaned up. Under most circumstances I would be ecstatic I had scored a great piece way under priced because of its perceived issues. In this instance I went back to the private seller and paid a little extra. This is not the first time I've gone back and paid more. I don't do this because I feel guilty, but rather I like to think of it as "Glass Karma". I never expect anything in return, but I feel good about it.

Another Close Call

Karin and I took Friday May 2 off from work to attend First Monday Trade Days in Canton TX. Although it's called First Monday It's actually the weekend before the First Monday. Confused yet?
At any rate we had planned to get there at 8:30 AM. Well one thing after another and we are running a couple of hours behind schedule. When we finally arrived we saw several helicopters and quite a few law enforcement officers in the area. Finally one of our favorite dealers told us the full story.

"Around 8 AM the sky became dark and stormy. Then around 8:30 AM everything got very quiet and dark that's when the twister touch down in the area of Hwys 64 and 19, a mere few yards from the unreserved section near the Civic Center. Several trees were uprooted, cars damaged, merchandise lost or destroyed, a couple of injuries, but it could have been much worse. Luckily it stayed off the Trade Day grounds or no doubt there would have been folks severely hurt or killed."

As it was several dealers had "I survived the Canton Tornado Sales" Here's a link to the story