Prince
Edward Island 
A.P.N.A. Show at Charlottetown Oct.16,1999
It is almost a month since the APNA show, and a time to reflect. From all the comments I have heard, the show was a great success both from the dealers point of view, the A.P.N.A members, our own club members and the general public.
First of all I would like to thank every one of our club members who participated on committees, you all excelled in what you were asked to do. This is not a time to mention anyone individually, but you all did an excellent job. Friday afternoon we were able to get memorial hall set up for the bourse on Saturday. It was fortunate that we rented the hall for Friday as this was a plus for us to have the bourse all set up before the reception that evening.
Club 1864, a great facility for the reception with a gathering of this size, was in my mind a great success, with nearly a hundred people attending. I was proud of our club's representation at the reception. The reception provided an opportunity for our new members to meet and socialize for the first time with other Maritime collectors. I feel this will do a lot to strengthen our organization (APNA) in the future. I heard some of them talking and planning to take in the next rally already. Our reception committee did a great job and, Terry Woodhouse, one of the Committee members and show chairperson welcomed everyone to the show.
The show on Saturday started off at 6:30 in the morning with dealers arriving and unloading at the Richmond Street entrance. Our club members were there to assist them with trolleys and parking. This was the one phase I was worried a bit about, but things went very well in the receiving area. The wooden money association held their breakfast meeting at the Best Western Hotel at 8 am. We had a committee of two at the hotel lobby to direct those attending the breakfast meeting to the room next to the restaurant.
By 9 o’clock the dealers were all set up in Montgomery Hall and when the natural light started to pour in from the ceiling above and the effect of the marble walls was evident, everyone was thrilled with the layout. Every table was sold, with all dealers having equal tables behind there stalls which they appreciated very much and used to good advantage. The wide aisles was one thing that we received a lot of complements on. This gave the customers plenty of room to move around and the place never seemed crowded. At one time I counted over a hundred customers on the floor, with lots of room for everyone and with very little congestion - if any.
The crowd was a bit slow starting until we realized only the Richmond Street entrance was open. The doors at the main entrance were jammed and the commissioner wasn’t able to get them opened until nearly 9 :30. After that, the turnout was very good - much better the I had expected. I guess it pays to advertise as our advertising committee had covered every avenue throughout the Island. Ian Graham, representing the Royal Canadian Mint, did an excellent job on the Main street program Friday afternoon. Our tour for the ladies was a bit of a disappointment as only two participated other then the committee. The committee were prepared to accommodate as many as 12.
The A.P.N.A. trophy display was a great asset to the show and fitted nicely in the foyer with the direct lighting overhead. This really showed the fine job of polishing that Terry has done with the trophies and the work he has put into this display. Our trophy custodian, Terry Cochrane , deserves much credit and thanks for all the work he did. This display was viewed by many people, which we hope will create more interest in the A.P.N.A.. The member's displays were excellent. We had 8 exhibits - perhaps not as many as we would have liked, but more then I had expected. In the General category there were four entries. First prize was won by Mark Houlton with his coins of India display, second by Douglas Shand and third by Diane Muttart. Ralph Bagnall took first for his Canadian Tire coupon display, Ralph also won first in the token category, second was Terry Cochrane. Kevin Thorburn took first in the Canadian decimal. The best of show went to Mark Holton for his coins of India display.
We had excellent facilities for our meetings at the Confederation center. The Canadian Tire Collectors Meeting was held in the Board room. The APNA meeting was held in Club 1864. I wasn’t able to attend those meetings, but the feedback I got was very good indeed .
At the close of the bourse that afternoon we held our watch draw, the lucky winner was Gloria Houston, a member of our own club, the 50/50 draw was won by our photographer, Clair Perry. There were several other conciliation prizes donated by the Royal Canadian Mint drawn for as well.
The closing Banquet was held at the Best Western and we were given a private room as promised and the meal was great. We didn’t have quite as many as anticipated attend, however 25 did make it. We were very pleased to see so many from out of Province attend. During the meal some jokes were told and lots of fun was had by all. Our display chairman, Harley Ings, gave the judge's results of the member's displays. Our own club member Mark Holton was guest speaker who spoke on his rebirth into the hobby of coin collecting. Afterward, we all looked forward to the next A.P.N.A. show next spring in Halifax.
Submitted by. Ralph Dickieson Past President P.E.I.N.A.
EMAIL ralph.d@pei.sympatico.ca
