There were two programs this morning. Ross Mayhew had us all practically
falling out of our seats laughing as he tole about his rtip through Labrador?
At any rate he was very funny. Dave Green had a wonderfully relaxing program
about the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Dave had a lot of beautiful slides along set
to music from a CD of sounds from the Aquarium and whale calls, birdsong and
instrumental music. It was a soothing way to end the programs. I hope it
soothed Dave as  well, he had a rough time this convention. The less said
about the bourse and the dealers the better :-(
   Thursday evening at the banquet, Charles Opitz spoke to us about Shell
money and trade shells. He had many examples of shell trade articles from
Papua, New Guinea and other places around the world. It was interesting and
informative. With the end of that program, the convention was concluded.
  The REAL heroes, Linda Koestal and the Central Florida Shell Club. They did
a remarkable job to see that the schedule ran on time and things went
smoothly. My personal hero, Phyllis Gray. There has always got to be one in
every crowd and I was it, this time. Never could seem to find the right ticket
for the right event.Remind me not to change purses so often!!!  Phyllis took
it all very calmly, and efficiently. She had it all written down bless her
heart. Sorry Phyllis.
  One thing I especially liked was the lobby lounge. If you had a little time
you could sit there and meet new people from the group. I met some really
wonderful people this convention. All the waitresses and service people were
friendly.
  As you can guess, I am now at home and writing this. It seems impossible
that a week went by so fast. You wait and wait and like a flash of lightening
it is over.
  See you in Louisville,
            Carole Marshall