4th Annual ALPCA Garden State Region Meet

I posted this to the listserv and thought it would make a great recap to post to the blog!!!

Not even a Nor' Easter earlier in the week nor a minor table storage could stop the little meet that could from coming together in Allendale, NJ. For the second year in a row members from as far away as California assembled at the Guardian Angel Church for a full day of trading tin! Plate trading was hot and heavy, conversation ranged from reports of storm damage to the convention next June in Reno. By 9 am the usual crowd was busy trading Andy Bernstein was showing off his newest graphics for sale(I picked up a new Alabama wheelchair motorcycle plate) while Ron Ridolph was busy collecting donations for our annual auction. Jason DeCaesare was documenting everything on camera while his cousin and newer ALPCA member Nate Miller was acquiring a few jems for his fledgling collection. Also in attendance was former President and ALPCA Hall of Fame Member Dick Yourga who graciously donated a Connecticut wheelchair plate for r the Orange Grove Display down in Tennessee. I would say the long distance award goes to Nador Thor who flew in from California, seconded by Lee Madigon who drove in from Chicago. Unfortunately we missed a few familiar faces including Dave Kuhen and Bill Dickerson from New England as well as Long Islanders George Barnes and Jon Lebowitz with his mom. Special shout out to Ralph Bannano who worked an overnight shift on the CSX, caught a few winks just so he could make an appearance!!!b Although given gas prices and road condition surely put a damper on the attendance.. For the second year a group of us, including co-host Marco Tramelli, traveled down the road to the Allendale Bar and Grill. We were warmly greeted by the owners, the Kunish brothers, who lost their father a few months ago. Drinks flowed and hot meals were served as we talked over future plans, including the possibility of moving the meet to a more central location in New Jersey. There are all kinds of plans in the works say tuned. I again want to thank the 49 members and guests for another great meet and look forward to seeing you next November Yours truly in New Jersey Justin Mattes ALPCA#6748 ALPCA Garden State Region President
Location: Franklin Turnpike, Allendale, NJ 07401, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

One Contact - Five Lighthouses--W9C

Back in the summer I wrote an entry in here about my Lighthouse phone contact with Bill,N8ET , so now I had to top that with a five lighthouse PSK contact in Wisconsin! I was orginally going to wait until I got the card like my other contacts but I think at this stage of the game you can take my word for it. This contact was with a husband and wife team also known as "Team Cheese"--WI9TC (I love the callsign). Like the contact with Bill, they were in the line of sight of five lighthouses located on the Wisconsin shores of Lake Michigan. As soon as I saw them on the BeaconBot (the e-mail reflector used to notify people of lighthouse activations-) I knew I had to take my best shot. There were tons of stations dying to get a contact. Well after some monitoring of the waterfall and waiting for a break in the QSO's, I dropped my call. Unfortunately I was getting overpowered a lot so I actually wound up waiting for quite awhile. Although I have to admit it was also fun just ...
More Posts to Mattes's Madness

Bob Dylan blows into town

Image
       For a few months there has buzz around Cape May NJ that Bob Dylan was coming to America's Oldest Seaside Resort. No he wasn't playing a concert at Convention Hall. For most of this weeks parts of 2024 Cape May,NJ was transformed into 1965 Newport, RI. A Complete Unknown is a new film about Dylan's conversion from acoustic  to electric guitar starring Timothee Chalamet as Bob Dylan is in production and the location scouting team decided that  Cape May today looked like Newport back in '65. Bob Dylan debuted  his hit song Like a Rolling Stone   at t he Newport Folk Festival. They even transformed Perry Street  into Belevedere Avenue. Shops along the Washington Mall were temporarily renamed to match shops up in Newport.  The Victorian Motel was baptized then Viking Motel for the film  Days prior I started seeing filming equipment  being transported into town.       Like most o f the town I was hopi...
More Posts to Mattes's Madness

Remembering Grandma in Florida

My dad and I are in Florida for the month of March because the wnters in Cape May are horrible. I also can't stand dad complaining about the wind up there 24/7. So a few years ago my mom started looking at places to rent or even eventuall buy. We were down here during the very beginning of COVID so while we flew down, we drove back. Later it was  determined we would drive down, something my father always wanted to do. So this year my father was determined so with a lot of planning (not really) he mapped out a three  day road  trip fro, Cape May down to West Palm Beach. We took the ferry .over to Delaware and proceeded down to an overnight in North Carolina and another somewhere in Georgia. I managed to pick up seven new counties in Georgia and North Carolina. No bad if you ask me By now you're wondering what this has to do with my Grandma. Well when my grandparent got older they bought a house in Naples, Florida.   They beccame snow birds, just like most people ...
More Posts to Mattes's Madness