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December 7
7th Annual Holiday Party - Wamsutta Club in New Bedford. Dinner, display raffles, grab gifts, games, and doorprizes for EVERYONE who attends! This is NOT a dinner dance! It is a village PARTY with a great opportunity to socialize, laugh, and WIN PRIZES!
January 5
7th Annual Member House Tour by motorcoach with dinner. This is always a sell-out so don't wait to make your reservations! Members Only! We will visit properties in Bridgewater, Duxbury, Fairhaven, New Bedford, Bristol, and Freetown.
February 10
(Brockton) Join us for our first meeting in our new meeting location--the Veteran's Administration Hospital in Brockton (building 22). Frank & Florence Wilson will be on hand with a favorite annual event--the slide show and commentary on the new 2003 Dept 56 releases and new product. We will also have another mini display auction, where several members will create displays from the same accessory to auction off. As an added feature, we will have a demonstration with the "hot wire foam factory" entire lineup of product to examine and try. These are great display tools.
March 3
(New Bedford) Happy 7th birthday to the club! Many surprises in store! We will also have a demonstration of the new line of Department 56 home party giftware, called Time to Celebrate. Any members making a purchase that night will help earn money and prizes for the club treasury! This meeting will be the first one in our new "alternate" location, the VFW in New Bedford.
March 13-16
A large group of club members will attend the Mid-Atlantic Village Gathering in Reston VA. This event occurs every other year, and was formerly held in Williamsburg. We have two club vans going so far. This is the biggest and longest running show on the East Coast, and felt by many to be the best of the best!
April 5-6
Join us on our 3rd club overnight shopping trip. In April 2002, we went to Meredith NH, and had such fun, that we will repeat the experience in 2003. We have booked 30 rooms at the Inn at Mill Falls again, on Lake Winnepasaukee, most with lake views! The last trip was a sell-out, and we expect the same this time! A $50 deposit holds your room and your seat on the bus!
April 14
(Brockton) We will have a renowned model railroad display expert with us for a 2 hour scenery/landscape workshop, including a hands-on session! Learn the techniques to improve your displays and make them more realistic. This man has been written up in all the big railroad magazines and does national trips and classes. If you are a model railroader, you KNOW what a coup this is for us to get him for a meeting! This meeting will begin at 6:30, and will run until 9:30, so plan accordingly! You won't want to miss this!
May 4
Nuance gifts of Barrington RI, one of our club's sponsoring retailers, will host their 8th annual collectors luncheon cruise along Narragansett Bay, from Warren RI to Newport and back. Join our club and 4 other clubs (MA, RI & CT) as we eat, socialize, and win prizes! Dealer representatives from several major collectible lines such as Dept 56, Byers Choice, and Radko will be on hand as well! It's always an enjoyable afternoon.
May 12
(Brockton) Roger from the North Shore's Dept 56 club will visit our group and spend 90 minutes sharing slides and "how tos" for your village displaying. Roger does the wonderful Dept 56 displays for Christmas Eve in Peabody MA, and other North Shore retail stores. It's always great to get some fresh ideas.
June 9
(Brockton) It's MIDYEAR time! Frank & Florence Wilson will be back with slides of the Dept 56 midyear releases and their informative commentary about them, fresh from the showroom. We will also have a "brown bag auction" for some mystery prizes, and of course, some other surprises!
July 6-13
The Village Chronicle magazine will be sponsoring "The Event that Floats" a 7 night cruise from Boston to Bermuda and back, on the Norwegian Majesty. Several club members will be attending this collector event, and will enjoy classes with Carl & Rita Carter (Water,Water,Everywhere) and other village-related actvities, as well as enjoy plenty of Bermuda! There's still time to come along!
July 19
(Bridgewater) This is our annual summer social/cookout which rotates locations based on which member volunteers to play "host." This year's Saturday cookout will be held in Bridgewater and will be a cookout/pool party. Be prepared to have some fun, play some games, and enjoy this socialization time with fellow club members. Raindate Sunday, July 20.
August 11
(Brockton) We will have a hands-on "Make and Take" session. Come prepared to make something for your village display! We will also have another "mini display auction" and an Ice-Cream Social to cool things down!
September 8
(New Bedford) We will have a member's "container display contest." Come and enjoy the creativity of our members and learn how they did it! There will also be some other activities planned which will be announced as time gets closer.
September 18-20
We have 15-20 club members making plans to attend the Michigan Gathering for Dept 56 collectors, which will take place in Frankenmuth ("Little Bavaria"). We will even arrive during Oktoberfest for some more fun! The event is sponsored by clubs in that area in conjunction with Bronner's Christmas Wonderland, the world's largest Christmas store with over 50,000 sf! Several of us have been there before and it's a place not to be missed! Make plans now to come along with us!
October 3-5
Collectors are lucking out this year by having a gathering so close to home! The NY clubs will host "Display Expo '03" in Saratoga Springs. Two years ago we took a bus of members to this gathering, giving many members the opportunity to attend a gathering for the first time. It's a great time of displaying, seminars, shopping for village items and retired pieces, and learning "how to".
October 19
This will be our 2nd Halloween Tour. Do not wait too long to sign up for this one! Our first Halloween Tour to view member's warped creativity and see their Halloween decor/displays in 2002 was a sell out on our 55 passenger bus, and we are sure most of them will return for 2003, so there won't be many new seats up for grabs. We had a great time, going in costume, winning prizes, eating, and just having a real "spooky" day!
November 1-2
Because our overnight trips have become so popular, this year our members voted (70% majority!) to have TWO trips this year. Our spring trip will take us to NH, and the fall trip will head the bus to Western MA and VT. We haven't done the VT route for a few years so it should be fun! Mark your calendar!
November 10
(Brockton) This meeting will have slides of 2003 highlights, such as the Village Chronicle cruise, the Bronner's trip, and so forth, so that those who weren't there can see what went on. There will also be a "display night" session, with more info to be announced later. This is also the meeting where we open up space for club members to bring items that they would like to sell/trade. Those opportunities are always available yearround through our newsletter or our Email hotline, but this is a "face to face" opportunity.
December 6
Our 8th annual holiday party. Location to be determined. This is not a dinner-dance type of event, but is a "PARTY" where members eat, play games, socialize, and win lots of prizes! EVERYONE who attends wins at least one prize, most likely more! It's always a full house!
January 11, 2004
This is our 8th annual holiday house tour and dinner. Houses visited will include homes in Bridgewater, Lakeville, and Fall River, among others. This is a motorcoach tour, which always sells out quickly, and is limited to members only, since we are going into people's private homes. Lunch and dinner are included.
For more details, contact us! Mental56er@aol.com