- Convention Report-2025
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- The 2025 Mars convention is in the
books. As promised it was a great time to reconnect with our
fellow collector friends, meet a few new friends, and at the
same time obtain some amazing new matchcovers for our collections.
There was an excellent turnout along with a few first time attendees
who seemed to thoroughly enjoy themselves. I am sure you have plenty
of memories of your own from a fantastic week!
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- As usual, Sunday started out calmly with
attendees meeting in the lobby while we waited for the rooms
to become available. We took advantage of the time to discuss
the past year, as well as what could be expected from the coming
week and how the auctions would work. The convention bags for each attendee
were prepared on Saturday, so
registration could commence Sunday night. The highlights of Sunday
as usual were the loaded grab tables and dealer tables that
teemed with features and other offerings.
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- Monday saw the convention activity level
ramp up with a silent auction in the morning as the majority
of attendees arrived, registered and dove into adding to their
collections. The freebie tables were the place to be on Monday.
Not only is it great fun to rummage through mounds of matchcovers
and boxes looking for that cover you would love to add to your
collection, but the grab table is where you really get to spend
time talking to your fellow collectors. It is also a tradition
that collectors also search for covers in other collectors categories,
which is a special sort of camaraderie that exists in our hobby.
In addition, Denise McKinney had the annual scavenger hunt from
the grab tables with collectors searching for various covers
from her list of matchcovers.
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- The two silent auctions included some
beautiful covers that went for very reasonable prices. There
was certainly something for everyone. From there, we moved
into the regular auctions, four in total from Tuesday to Friday,
that provided some wonderful lots and bids that were in general
higher than in recent years. It seems that collectors are willing
to spend a little more for what they want, especially when the
prices are still far below anything seen on EBay or Facebook.
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- Tuesday night featured the Flying Saucer Dinner, an RMS
mixer where we ate and socialized. Casual dining was highlighted by a taco
bar. To go with the Mars theme there was also
a flying saucer decorating contest where several attendees decorated a
paper plate to their liking. Between the food, crazy hats, raffle prizes, and socializing
amongst friends, it was certaily a hoot!
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- Throughout the week the display room was
open featuring some fantastic displays created by several different
collectors. The artistic talents and amazing covers are always
entertaining and a must see if you have never attended a convention
before.
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- Thursday morning featured the annual business
meeting, a chance for people to yell or discuss the issues facing
the club and hobby. It is a nice moment to honor the members
who have attained a special status in the hobby as well as those
who have passed away in the past year. There was some important
business facing the club which was discussed, including an updating
of the dues. As always, the highlight of the business meeting was the
selection of next year’s convention site. The site in Richfield OH
will host next year’s convention. Check out the Annual Convention link at the
top of the page for details.
The week wrapped up with the banquet
on Friday night. A cash bar followed by a very good buffet meal
led up to the awards presentation for all the various display
awards presented by RMS and local clubs. Then the big announcements
for the hall of fame and collector of the year were announced.
These are extremely special awards for RMS members, so it was
exciting to have Donna Longenecker selected for the Hall of Fame, and
Dave Carr selected as Collector of the year!
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- A special shout out is in order for all
the volunteers that kept the convention running smoothly and
let the attendees enjoy such an amazing week. Please consider
volunteering yourself in the future as the hobby runs and succeeds
on the backs of our volunteers.
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- If you missed it, please start planning
now for next year’s convention. It is an event that should not be missed. Where
else can you get so many great covers while spending time with
fellow collecting friends. Not only do you have the collecting
events, but the week is filled with late nights outside the hotel
sipping Crown Royal, playing cards with those high penny stakes,
or organizing a car pool to attend a nearby restaurant for dinner
with friends. So we will see you all next year in Ohio, and
will look forward to meeting some of you for the first time!!!
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