Sorry to all who thought the ending of my previous message a bit abrupt. We
had a thunderstorm go through and it shut me down. When I got things back
up, the message kind of just went. Please, no computer advice -- I swear,
it did it all by itself. Now where was I....
Day 3 cont'd... Not too much more to add except the afternoon fieldtrip to
the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Lots of great displays of dinosaur
fossils, minerals (a huge display), mammals, bugs and the sort of stuff
found in a natural history museum. Of note was the display of shells. Most
were suspended between vertical panes of glass -- each side accessable to
viewing so you could see all aspects of each shell. A huge improvement over
the normal flat-shelf display. Also on hand were several world-record
shells including Don Pisor's Syrinx aruanus (about a yard long -- looks like
a boat!!) and Pleurotomaria rumphi (a bit larger than a half deflated
basketball).
Day 4 (24 June) was the day of the oral auction. We had more quality
presentations and silent auctions in the morning and then gathered to see
the Dave Green and Jim Brunner auction act, as they made sure they got full
value for each item auctioned -- "It's only money!" There were over 150
lots including 50+ lots with multiple shells -- some with hundreds of shells
in the case of the smaller shells. The high item was a slit shell which
sold for $2,200 -- no names as I do not know if the individual wants to be
identified. But if you were there you saw some animated bidding. It was a
lot of fun. The low bid was probably my own $35 for a nice fig shell. As I
mentioned previously, the auction made over $22,000 and when the proceeds
from the silent auctions and the raffle were added to the total, it came to
over $29,000. In case anyone who was unable to attend is curious, here is a
small sampling of the items offered.
- Two Cancellaria laurettae (a new species named for COA's own Lauretta
Marr who also gave a great presentation).
- Harpa costa (one of three, yes three offered).
- A growth set of Chicoreus spectrum (Emily Volkes was in attendance in
case anyone had a murex question).
- Austroharpa punctata (first time auctioned at COA).
- Two perfect Acteon eloisae (Don and Eloise Bursch were in attendance and
I got a couple autographs for my Shells of Arabia book).
- A set of four different epitoniums (Bruce grabbed these of course).
- Four slit shells (P. westralis, two P. anseeuwi, & P. or rather
Entemnotrochus adansonianus bermudensis -- and now you know the high price
shell).
- A huge Conus pergrandis (there were also several of these in the bourse
and they seem to have finally made it down to the very high three figure
range).
- Several Conus, Oliva, Cypraea, bivalve, and land shell collections --
each a collection in itself.
- A shelling trip with Peggy Williams to South Bimini Island!
- Two sets of bright orange Lyropecten subnodosus, each the size of a
dinner plate.
- 19 specimens of 7 species of Tibia (an entire collection in a single
bid).
- And about 125 more items. It was some auction!
After the auction we were able to pick up (read pay for) our silent auction
items and I was pleasently surprized to find myself with money left for the
bourse the following day. Oh, almost forgot. Kim Hutsell was available
each day to measure shells for world record status. And to Phyllis Diegil
who wasn't able to attend, I think the Nerita textile you just sent me will
qualify as a new record!! I'll give you full credit unless you want it back
now -- in which case I lost it yesterday!! For everyone else, I've seen
soup bowls smaller than this 60mm monster.
That evening the Conch-L attendees gathered and shared stories about the
electronic goings on while we were away (you folks did get a bit worked up!)
and everyone tried to put a face to a name. We talked about viruses,
database programs, and various and sundry other topics. Nice not to even
need a spell checker. Thanks to COA for sponsoring Conch-L as these are a
great bunch of folks.
The next day (25 June) or day 5 we finished off the programs in the morning
and then gathered to see what wonders awaited behind the doors in the
bourse. At 12 noon the doors opened and the scramble for biggest/most
colorful/perfect shape/or cheapest shells began. There were a few hazards
as I noticed Tom Rice taking pictures of the goings on when he wasn't
selling shells. He assured me he would electronically pull in my gut and
add hair to my head on any picture of me. Nice guy that Tom! This was a
quality bourse (in fitting with the entire convention) and by the end of the
day both Bruce and I were left with just enough money to pay the hotel bill
there and the one on the way home. Some of the highlights I noticed were:
- Many Cypraea leucodon -- fun too look at but be very careful touching
unless you really want a second house mortgage (actually the prices were
pretty good, though still beyond most collector's budgets).
- Some of the biggest and most colorful Cypraea aurantium (Golden Cowrie)
ever (Bruce got a great one from Neptune Shells for less than 1/4 of the
cost of my pale and much smaller one purchased just a few years ago -- well
maybe 10 years ago).
- Harpa goodwini with a color and gloss like it came out of the ocean
yesterday (I got that one -- thanks David).
- And so on. I was able to get a few nerites plus a few too many shells of
other families.
That evening Bruce and I double checked our finances and realized we would
make it if we skipped a meal a day (never a bad idea) and found a real flea
bag hotel on the way home.
The final day (26 June) was the bourse in the morning and the banquet in the
evening. The morning bourse was well under way before I finally braved the
doorway. After less than 30 minutes (and some admittedly great shell
bargins), Bruce and I were faced with using plastic all the way home and
sleeping in the car. Oh well, no problems as the meal that night was
already paid for.
The banquet began with the awarding of raffle prizes. After the last one
was collected, Jim Green asked everyone in the audiance who had won a prize
during the convention to hold up their hand. It looked like half of the
room was holding up hands but was probably closer to one third. That is a
lot of prizes for one convention.
The meal was really good with attentive service and very generous portions.
After desert (rasberry something in a bowl made of dark chocolate) we
watched two slide shows of underwater pictures from around the world taken
by Jackie and Joanna (I think) Reid. The photos were the quality of any of
the top coffee table books, but in this case included lots of shells as well
as some very interesting marine life (some as yet un-named). It was a
perfect ending for a great convention. There was an extra fieldtrip planned
for the following day to Galveston but Bruce and I were headed home.
We got started at 4:30 the next morning and drove the 1,100 miles straight
home. I dropped Bruce off at his house and was able to greet my wife in
time for dinner. Notice I was in time for dinner, nothing said about eating
dinner. What I really did was unpack shells, rattle on about the convention
and the people I met, and then crashed.
So there you have it, COA 2000. Quite a show. There is obviously a lot I
have left out, like the evening spent drinking Margaritas and some bizarre
orange drink with Ardeth and her husband in their RV, or the many fine area
restaurants we sampled, or the Melo broderipi Bruce bought from Don Pisor
that is big enough to use as a punch bowl, or the trades I made with John
Bernard, or the new friends, old friends, lots of laughter, or....well you
get the drift. It was a great time and the folks in Texas can rightfully
feel very proud of their accomplishments. If you couldn't attend, you owe
it to yourself to begin planning to make next year's convention in Florida.
Those of us who were lucky enough to be able to attend have been enriched.
Wait, that can't be the correct term as I'm now very broke! I guess I can
say it was worth every penny. Thanks to COA and our friends in Texas.
Tom Eichhorst in New Mexico, USA (I seem to owe a lot of people e-mail --
please be patient as I have to "work" with all of these lumps of calcite a
bit first)
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