Thank you, St. Louis PPFA & the vendors who supported them

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Natalya Murphy

Natalya Murphy

CGF II, Certified Grumble Framer Level 2
Joined
Nov 4, 2006
Posts
478
Loc
Nebraska
I want to send a big thank you out to the folks in the St. Louis PPFA chapter for sponsoring the Kansas City Spectacular this past weekend. Having Baer Charlton in our neck of the woods was a rare treat, and I was so pleased to see the vendors that came out with their wares. I actually got to meet my Meadowbrook Insurance rep in person!
 
Natalya,

It was one of the funnest group that were in those classes. The event complete from start to finish was spectacular.
I was extremely impress with the 16' of table space allowed for the many vendors made it possible to see the whole line at a glance for many of the smaller moulding companies, and was definitely a hit with the vendors.

I especially was impressed with the owner of Williamson Co. making that 5 hour drive down herself. I hadn't seen the line for the last 10-12 years... and it was great to see so many of the classic stuff still around and with great quality. Plus it was nice to get the true story directly from the ladies mouth. Our catalog is on it's way. Four chops = free freight.... I'm there.

Then there was that pistol from Crescent, Chantel...... she was so bashful..... not. :D

It was a great time.... and thanks to you and Murf for making that huge drive down from Nebraska.
 
The Williamson Co. was the very first moulding supplier that I had an account with back in the 80's, Pat Williamson, Laura's dad came to my first shop and signed me up to buy from them. They worked out of a single building back then in Wayne City, IL and everyone knew everyone!! I used to drive down there (aobut a 50 mile round trip) to get my length and look over all their shorts and discontinueds and I met Terry and Laura Shaubert when Patrick retired.

That is a special group of people to me. I still buy from them and I still know about half the girls in the office. They have been through some hard times and have built and operated their own manufacturing plant and then had to close down for lack of buyer interest and maybe a bit of poor management but they still hung in there and are doing well today. the quality of their moulding is up with that of the very best that you can mention. They have their flaws occasionally like any other line of wood moulding but that is part of the game.

My most memorable time was shortly after they opened their 120,000 sq. ft. manufacturing plant in Fairfield, IL and Terry invited me to tour the plant with him. He showed me what he called a "story stick" for 2 or 3 of the mouldings that they manufactured there in the plant. I was very impressed with how many steps were involved in the manufacture of one profile of moulding!! One of the profiles was since discontinued. It wasn't a really fancy type but it had 28 separate steps in its manufacture from the pallet of raw poplar strips sitting on the delivery dock floor to the finished stick of moulding. Another had 41 separate steps. Most framers don't realize how much work goes into the final finished moulding that you receive in your order.

They are good hard working honest people and I am quite proud to have dealt with them for most of my framing career.
 
Thanks Natalya!
It was alot of work to try to put something together in a city a minimum of 4 hours away from the nearest board member. Everyone involoved worked hard.

I am so sorry that I couldn't be there. (I was in Toronto at the PPFA board meeting and PMA show). Last year we had a SUPERB educational event (One on One sessions with Bob Carter on "Bidness") and it was a great event for those who attended.

This year I would have liked to gotten in on that fabric wrapping--something I have done only a little of, so I know I could be alot better at it.

The extra value of these events is the unbridled "exchange" of information between the attendees. I feel priveliged to be a member of the St. Louis group, because I can't imagine a better "support group" for my business. These are some of the friendliest and most helpful people I've ever met.

My only regret is that it took me so many years before I bit the bullet and made the drive to one of the meetings....

(So Baer, was this your first time to meet Jack K?)
 
Oh heavens no Barb.... Jacko and I go back to the days of the "Framer Exchange" on Prodigy... the original "internet" of bulletin boards. We did it on our souped up hacker Apples. Those were the wild days of Electro Early Adopters... we were cutting edge and dreaming of POSs and CMC and longing for a faster way to talk to each other when we were walking around down town in different cities..... :D:D:D

He said he would drop me a line..... what in world was he talking about?

Seriously.. I think I met him before. Vegas?

Tom, thanks for your take on the Williamson family. We are SO looking forward to getting the new Catalog, and reconnecting.
 
The event was great!

If you haven't met or taken a class with Baer, you've denied yourself a load of fun and knowledge. :thumbsup: Baer is a fabulous teacher. He's open, friendly, and wants to share his wealth of knowledge. Thank you, Baer! Oh.....and he loves PURPLE! :D

The table top show was well put together and very informative. I salute the St. Louis PPFA Chapter for all of their efforts in putting together this event.:beer: You all done good!

Garnetta
 
Baer Charlton said:
Oh heavens no Barb.... Jacko and I go back to the days of the "Framer Exchange" on Prodigy... the original "internet" of bulletin boards. We did it on our souped up hacker Apples. Those were the wild days of Electro Early Adopters... we were cutting edge and dreaming of POSs and CMC and longing for a faster way to talk to each other when we were walking around down town in different cities..... :D:D:D

He said he would drop me a line..... what in world was he talking about?

Seriously.. I think I met him before. Vegas?
Click to expand...


Ha!
Jack's been one of the more active StL framers for a long time.
I wouldn't be surprised at all if you two had crossed paths before somewhere.

Garnetta, I'm glad you enjoyed the event! Sorry I missed meeting you.
 
Thank you everyone in the St. Louis Chapter for hosting such a wonderful event. I and my wife felt very welcome, everyone was so hospitable. The venders table top show was a highlight as I was able to meet sales reps and vendors in a casual but business inspired atmosphere.

Baer,
A special thank you for all the tips and tricks that you taught. I will definitely have an advantage over my competitiors. (Except for Natalya.) I really don't want to sell anything but fabric mats and liners now.

Mitch
 
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