FENTON FINDERS OF GREATER KANSAS CITY

The meeting of the Fenton Finders of Greater Kansas City will be SATURDAY,

JUNE 11TH, 2011 at the Raytown City Hall, 10000 E. 59th, and Raytown, Missouri. The

meeting will start at 7:00 P.M.

It is with regret that I must report that long time member Barbara Yackie passed

away May 1st. We want to let her husband Al and their family know that they are in our

thoughts and prayers. Please let them know how sorry we are for their lost.

We are happy to report that Bob Grissom had some unexpected surgery but has

quickly recovered and even managed to attend the HOAGGA convention shortly after the

surgery.

We also must let everyone know that Ada Kay Fetty has been very ill and she has

been on everyone's mind. We all love Dave and his work but everyone who has been

privilege to meet Ada Kay know that he is a very lucky man to have someone so special

in his life. The last we heard Ada Kay is doing much better and is on the way back home

if she is not already there. If you get a chance please let her know that she is in our

thoughts and prayers.

Connie Duncan brought some samples of Fenton's new line of glass beads to the

meeting. As you can see in the picture and the information packet that Fenton has given

to their dealers they have used some of their old favorite and popular painted designs for

the beads. At this time they only have one artist painting the beads, Truda Mendenhall;

you will notice the Violets in the Snow as well as other favorite Louise Piper designs.

They have also included a Vasa Murrhina Collection. Because of the price of the

ingredients to make the Vasa Murrhina beads the price is a little bit higher than the hand

painted beads. The beads are lined with sterling silver and all have the Fenton logo.

They have 12 workers producing the beads now. It will be interesting seeing how they

well they do with this new line. It is the only line of glass beads that are made in the

United States.

There was more discussion of our bus trip. Bernie has done some checking and our

driver from the 2nd bus trip we made to Fenton has retired and was unable to recommend

anyone that could to take his place. Bernie is now checking into bus companies but has

decided that the soonest that we would be able to make the trip is next year. Which

might be good as Connie Duncan has contracted Kelsey Murphy to see if the invitation

she extended last year was still open? It was. The invitation included a visit to her

workshop where we could see where she creates her beautiful glass. There have been

many other suggestions made as to where we could go as well as when. Bernie is

listening to everyone and will let us know when he is able to come up with a firm plan as

well as dates so that we will all have plenty of time to schedule their vacation time so that

they can join us on the bus. There will be more in later newsletters.

In the meantime some updates on the Gala. Dave Fetty and Delmar Stowasser will

be our special guests. Our big display will be on the Barber collection and one of a kind

Barber pieces. Without a doubt these two gentlemen are very well qualified to speak on

this subject. As the main glass artisans to work on the collection they made most if not all

of the glass he designed. They worked with Barber on the design as well as making the

glass for the collection. Janet Wilke should be sending out packets with registration

forms soon so be checking your mail. We are waiting to hear from Fenton on the special

piece of glass that we are having made so we will update you with that information as

soon as we can. Our luncheon and banquet is being planned and promises to be great.

Joy and Connie are working hard to get us the best that the hotel can produce to make

sure the food as well as the entertainment (seminars and special guests) are the best that

we can get. We hope that you will find your attendance educational as well as lots of fun.

The hospitality room is being planned and hopefully will be full of good food and good

fun. It will open on Thursday as soon as we can get it running so that everyone who gets

in early can get a bite to eat and start visiting with old friends in comfort while waiting (if

needed) for their rooms to get ready. In other words the hospitality room will open around

11:30 or 12:00. This is something that we hate to put a firm time on as we will open as

soon as we get it ready so all the people who are working on getting everything ready for

the Gala needs to be able to get food and drinks so that they can work hard on all the

things that need to be done. So everyone who can, please bring something sweet or

something for the sugar challenged among us. Don't forget the salads and other good

things to eat that we can use to make our barbeque dinner on Thursday as great as it

always is. So don't wait to get your reservations for your rooms at the Embassy Suites at

816-891-7788. The good thing about making your reservation early is that you have 24

hours before check in time to cancel if something comes up and you cannot make it to the

Gala. Just make sure you get the reservations early so that you get the Gala rate.

I also need to make a correction from the last newsletter, in it I said we had a

Karnak Red Hanging Hearts footed bowl, it is really a Karnak Red Hanging Vine footed

bowl. It can be difficult to tell the difference for someone like me but there are

differences. Please take the time to check out our website as there has been more

pictures added to the auction pictures and you will be able to make plans on what you

would like to take home with you. The address is fentonfinderskc.net. Sorry for any

confusion my mistake caused.

Joy Livengood has contributed article for what I would like to call Favorite Fenton

Memories and she has called:

"A Special Gift from Grandma"

As a little girl, I loved going to my grandma's house. As I recall, she had all the

stuff every little girl would want to look at, touch, play with and admire.

She always had knick knacks and things scattered about her house but some of

them were "off limits" and I could only look at them from a distance.

As I grew up, I came to appreciate the many things my grandma owned. She

frequently passed along to me many of her knick knacks that I still have to remember her

by. Some of her "things" were boxed up and given to me after she passed away but I

would not look in that box until years later.

There were times that my husband, children and I would visit grandma and grandpa.

On occasion we videotaped some of the visits as keepsakes.

Several years ago, as I was cleaning and organizing things in the house, I ran

across one of those old videotapes that we filmed at grandma's house, I sat in front of the

television and watched the images play across the screen. There was grandma's couch,

grandma, grandpa and their living room.

Suddenly the videotape danced across the wall of their living room. I spied a shelf

and on the shelf was a Fenton Silvercrest vase with Charleton decorations. I could not

believe my eyes!!!

I stopped the videotape and reversed it. I re-ran the tape several times as the video

scanned across the wall. Sure enough! There it was... a Fenton Silvercrest vase with

Charleton decorations. It was for real.

Then I wondered, where had that vase gone. Did my dad have it? Did my brother or

sister have it? When asked, nobody had seen it. I thought maybe it had been sold during

their auction as I did not collect Fenton at that time, much less know it WAS Fenton!

So, I decided I should look in my boxes. I found it wrapped in paper just waiting for

me to find! I tore the paper off of it and felt like grandma was right there with me as I

admired the Charleton decoration and the silvercrest and cried.

The ironic part of this tale is that I didn't start collecting Fenton until grandma was

already gone. Discovering that she had a fondness for a piece of Fenton made it more

meaningful that I now collect Fenton.

Even though the little Silvercrest vase with Charleton decorations isn't the most

expensive or rare piece of Fenton I possess, it may very well be the most precious piece

that I have.

Now my granddaughters come to my house and always ask if they can "find" my

newest Fenton. They can always identify my newest pieces...but that is another story.

However, they each have their favorites that I will pass along to them when the time is

right.

Thanks Grandma for that surprise gift.

Thank you, Joy for sharing your wonderful memory. If anyone else would like to

contribute a Favorite Fenton Memory or has some information about their favorite

collectible that will help educate other collectors please send it to me at 10903 Elmwood

Dr. KCMO 64137 or email it to me at stogles@yahoo.com . It will help us all be better

collectors.

Please update your roster with William Gillespie new mailing address, PO Box 7972

Shrewsbury, NJ 07702.

Our program for June will be Violets in the Snow, it will be a group program so

everyone who has some (and very few Fenton collectors don't have at least one or two

pieces of Violets in the Snow) please bring your treasures in to share with our members.

It was one of the first decorations that Louise Piper did for Fenton and Fenton is still

using it today as a decoration on their glass beads. Dan and Claudia Hegweld are

bringing in refreshments (I love refreshments). Don't forget to bring in at least one piece

of glass for show and tell. Until then take care of yourself and your Fenton collection.

Jackie Oglesby, Secretary