The July meeting was held with 27 members and guests present - not too shabby for a high-summer meeting. It was a cool meeting - which was quite all right considering that Nanaimo set an all-time record high temperature (or, if not, within a small fraction of one degree) the day before. We were treated to a highly informative talk by Ben Weaver on Bing Crosby and his memorabilia; serious collecting is not limited to coins.

 

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The Great Mid-Island Barbecue was held in Parksville on Sunday, July 15. These keep getting better. This year attendance was 39 with contingents from Port Alberni and a large one from the Victoria Numismatic Society. A new feature was added this year in the form of a substantial coin auction, conducted with our usual sedate decorum.We hope all attendees return next year and more as well. Since your scribbler had little to do but eat and enjoy himself, perhaps we should extend thanks to those who organized and ran a successful affair. I won't mention names. But I know who you are.

 

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During this same week, the C.N.A. Convention was being held in Niagara Falls . I am reliably informed that Mid-Island did extraordinarily well in the award department: "Best Club Newsletter" as well as the editorship thereof. In addition, the three-part series by Tolling Jennings that appeared in our Journal September-through-November last year, also garnered the Jerome Remick Award ("Best Article(s) in a Club Newsletter") for Tolling. We extend our congratulations to him as well as our thanks to those who saw fit to pick Mid-Island out of a field whose quality is increasing all the time.

 

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Don't forget, our annual participation in the Vancouver Island Exhibition is slated for the latter part of August. Members are asked to donate foreign coins (inexpensive is OK) for the usual kid's giveaway. Please bring what you can spare to the August meeting. Remember, you may be meeting a future Mid-Island president/VP/treasurer/secretary or director for the first time. A potential collector, anyway.

 

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The August meeting is also the time when the newest recipient of the "Bill Potts Memorial Trophy" is chosen. For those unfamiliar with the rules: this is our club's top award and annually honours those who have, in the judgement of the general membership, most forwarded the interests of our club and numismatics in general. According to the rules, all MICC members are eligible - except the current holder, Orest Minishka; despite this, we have by general consent decided that previous winners (Wayne Jacobs, Jeff Ross thus far) also be ineligible until such time as our supply of new worthy recipients runs out, something that is unlikely to happen for a few years. The choosing is done by secret ballot by all MICC members - usually at the meeting (you can phone in your vote to Orest until midnight , 18 August if unable to attend). Like a CNA award, there is only a winner and Orest gets to vote only in order to break a tie. As the 2006 winner, he will count the ballots, determine the winner, see to the necessary engraving of the new plaque on the trophy and make the presentation at the September meeting. Preferably, the winner's name will not be known until that time. There will almost certainly be two or more serious contenders but the more there are, the stronger the club.

Wayne Jacobs is numismatic expert. He is the award winning author of numerous articles. He is the secretary and editor of the "Mid-Island Coin Club Numismatic Journal"of Nanaimo, Vancouver Island , British Columbia. The MICC journal are hosted here: MICC webpages Copyright 2006 Wayne Jacobs. This article may be reprinted freely for non commercial purpose only if the resource box is left intact, linking back to us.