At our Saturday, April 18th meeting at 8to8 Cigar Shop, we had 27 regular members in attendance. There weren’t any guests or new members.
MEETING SCHEDULE:
May 23rd: “THE GREAT POST-SHOW POW WOW’ at 8to8 Cigar Shop 6:30-10:00 P.M.
June 27th: Regular meeting at 8to8 Cigar Shop 6:30-10:00 P.M.
July 18th: Regular meeting at 8to8 Cigar Shop 6:30-10:00 P.M.
OLD BUSINESS: None stated
NEW BUSINESS:
Our NEW WEBSITE is up and running!!!!!! If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, please DO SO NOW!! Aziz stated that it’s still a work in progress, but it will be changing steadily over the next few weeks. I’ll also be posting a version of this newsletter (somewhat condensed) on the website. Those of you receiving this will get the FULL newsletter as always…
Craig Cobine brought in 6 different bags of Virginia blend tobaccos from the “Chicago Bowl” entries, and passed them around for everyone to sample! There were some interesting blends being passed around (I tried 2 of them) and I think that most of the other members did as well…
CHICAGO BOWL:
This year’s entrants are:
Arango Cigar Co. (last year’s winner)
Cornell & Diehl
G.L. Pease
Hearth & Home (Pipesandcigars.com)
Hermit Tobacco Works Co.
McClelland Tobacco Co.
Scandinavian Tobacco Group (Lane LTD.)
Stokkebye
The Chicago Bowl competition starts at 9 A.M. Friday morning (blends will be available in the tent) and ends at 4 P.M. Saturday afternoon. Please try to sample all of the various blends this year (should be easier as there’s less of them) AND VOTE for your favorite one!!! And yeah, while this is Chicago (vote early and vote often) please just vote once-and for just ONE BLEND!!! The winner will be announced at the Cigar Dinner Saturday night…
UPCA SLOW SMOKE COMPETITION:
I explained the why-of’s and where-fore’s of the National Slow Smoke competition (for the benefit of our new members and first-time competitors) to the group Saturday night.
This included the World/national rules along with the pitfalls of trying to keep a bowl of tobacco going for more than 5 minutes, and gave the dimensions of the Viprati pipe to be used in this year’s contest. Speaking of which, here are the CPCC club’s team members…
CPCC Slow Smoke Team (alphabetical order)
Paul Bender (Team captain)
Allan Boyd
Craig Cobine
Tom Dinelli
Rand Gustafson
Chris “Herm” Hartman
Greg Kowalczyk
Phil Licata
Aziz Panjwani (alternate)
Ralph Walker
John Winton
GOOD LUCK GUYS!!!!
CIGAR SHOW:
Will start at 6 P.M. and run until 10:00 P.M. in the main smoking tent. This year, the layout of the tables will be different in that instead of being around the perimeter (outside walls) of the tent, the tables will be set up “island fashion” in the center of the smoking tent.
There will be 7 vendors this year, and food will be available in the tent.
For more information, go to our website and click on the “Cigar Show” link…
MEMBER BADGES:
Since you are a club member and are receiving this newsletter, there is no need for you to shell out 15 bucks to get into the show!!! Although I do need to collect the club dues from some of our out-of state/European members, you can renew your membership with me Saturday morning. Unfortunately, this does NOT include SPOUSES OR SIGNIFICANT OTHERS!!! They WILL have to pay the $15.00 show entry fee, sorry guys but that’s just the way it is. They also will have to get in line to purchase a ticket. There is NO early purchase of tickets!!!
As you look towards the “Mega Center” entry doors, I will be at the table to the immediate left of the doors. Just come up to me and give me your name (though I know most of your names anyway), and I’ll mark you off on my membership list and hand you your badge.
You MUST have your badge on you to gain entry to the show, and you will NOT be allowed access to the show floor until the show opens at 10:00 A.M. Saturday morning!! But hey, It’s better than waiting in line now isn’t it??
So, have a FANTASTIC SHOW, buy lots of stuff, and don’t forget to BID on the “SILENT AUCTION”!!!!!
By the way, Craig still has a few tickets left for the Saturday night “Cigar Dinner”. If you want one, contact either Craig or myself…
SEE YOU AT THE SHOW!!!!
Best to ALL,
Tom D~