--- Important news for all pro carvers ---

[LatakiaLover]

Subject: Chicago 2016

Chaps……The minutes of the latest meeting of the Chicago Pipe Collectors Club are below,

from Tom Dinelli. Much info included on the 2015 and 2016 Show as you read down.

Note that a large number of the Pheasant Run rooms will not be available in 2016 due to

various reasons, and people will have to stay at other area hotels (I have marked that set in red).

Some of us are at the Hilton Garden Inn across the street;

rate for next year’s show at the Hilton Garden Inn is $ 117 per night (Senior / AARP / AAA rate)…

…That is higher than this year, but still less than Pheasant Run…..

Would not be surprised if the Hilton Garden Inn rates go

up even more very soon as people start booking for May 2016.



(My Personal view on all of this, the cynic that I am: This is the start of a possible

death spiral for the Show over the next few years, unless they switch to another venue.

By the way: The Porta-Potties mentioned for next year sound really classy, don’t they! Also,

I checked the wording of the Illinois statutes on smoking; they allow for hotels to dedicate up to 25%

of their rooms as smoking rooms; a hotel does not have to, but can; obviously Pheasant Run does

not want to.)………………………Mark

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

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May 23, 2015 Meeting Minutes

May 29, 2015 by admin
CPCC Members,

At our Saturday May 23rd meeting at the 8to8 Cigar Shop, we had 25
regular members in attendance. We didn't have any guests or new
members sign up at this meeting.

MEETING SCHEDULE:

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.
August 15th: Regular meeting at 8to8 Cigar Shop 6:30-10:00 P.M.

OLD BUSINESS: None Stated

NEW BUSINESS:
Club officers will be elected/retained at the June 27th meeting!!
Please try to attend...

Leftover open tins of Cornell & Diehl tobacco that were generously
donated by Chris Tarler to the club, were given out to all members in
attendance. It was a great chance to try out and take home some
tobacco that you may not have had the chance to smoke before. A BIG
THANK YOU goes out to Chris!!!

William Nelson of Pipes and Tobaccos Magazine donated tote bags from
past RTDA/IPCPR shows to the club, and these were handed out at the
meeting. For those of you who couldn't attend the May meeting, I still
have some left over from Saturday night and will bring them with me to
our next get together. See me if you want one...

UNITED PIPE CLUBS of AMERICA:
Has 5 new blends that I introduced at the annual UPCA meeting on the
Friday afternoon of the show. Mike McNiel of McClelland Tobacco and I
started working on this endeavor over a year ago, and things finally
came to fruition in time for the show!! These blends benefit the UPCA
much as the other McClelland "Club Blends" do for CPCC, GKCPC, and the
Seattle club, with a portion of the proceeds going to UPCA. The extra
funds that UPCA receives will be used to provide high quality pipes
for the National Smoking Contest held each year at our show. This
year, there were 105 entrants!!! The pipes were provided by Viprati,
THANK YOU LUIGI !!!!

The new UPCA blends should be hitting the shelves of retailers such as
Iwan Ries, PipesandCigars.com, and Smokingpipes.com in the next few
weeks.
The blends are:

CALUMET: Subtle, Mellow Virginia Ribbon
MAPLE SUPREME: Virginia and Black Cavendish with Sweet Maple Flavor (
the maple flavor flashes off quickly so you can taste the tobacco, but
has a great room note )
PANACHE: Black Cavendish and Virginia, Fragrant with Rich Vanilla
Flavor ( I find it similar to Lane's 1Q)
TRAVELER: Cool Latakia, Fragrant Turkish, Sweet Virginia and Rich
Cavendish (unsweetened)
VENTURE FORTH: Virginia Ribbon Seasoned Liberally with Latakia,
Oriental and Perique

Please try some or all of these new blends, and if you like them,
purchase a lot of tins. The proceeds go to a worthy cause!

THE BIG SHOW:
This year's show was the best that CPCC has ever produced in our 20
year history, and it was fitting for our 20th anniversary!!!
First of all, we gained 25 new members to the CPCC family, and we
welcome more of you to join our "Merry Band".
At the Friday night free dinner, we had to add eight tables, seating
10 per table to accommodate all of our guests, another first.

We had 160 more attendees than last year which brought our "walk-in
traffic" up to 750 people.
All of our exhibitor tables were sold out by March 1st, and as of
right now, we already have 160 tables reserved for 2016. Bottom line,
if your even thinking of getting a table(s) for next year, DON"T
WAIT!!! Contact Craig Cobine NOW at porshcigar@aol.com.

All of the glass display cases have been reserved for next year's
show, and we have all of our guest seminar speakers lined up (more on
the topics in a later newsletter).
So, as you can see, things are progressing VERY quickly...we could
almost have another show in August at this rate (I wish)!!!

SEMINARS:
The 2016 "Pipe Making Seminar", in addition to the "Basic Seminar",
will include an "Advanced Class" in which students will be
boring/drilling a "raw block" of briar and fashioning their own
bit/stem from a length of vulcanite rod. We plan on having 12 students
in the advanced class, and if you've already attended the basic class,
you're eligible for the advanced class. The price of the advanced
class has not yet been determined. If your interested, contact Craig
Cobine at the email above right after the first of the year...

TENATIVE:
We are also working closely with one of the major tobacco companies on
the topic of creating your own tobacco blends. This seminar would take
place on Thursday in the tent starting at 9 A.M. and ending about 4
P.M. that afternoon, with about an hour lunch break. The company
representative would first explain the characteristics/types of the
various tobaccos (and also cuts) in the morning, with the actual
blending taking place in the afternoon. Five NEW clay pipes would be
supplied so that you could get an accurate idea of how your blend will
taste.
Now, before you get your shorts all bunched up in a wad, remember THIS
SEMINAR IS TENTATIVE!!! Like you, we hope that we can get everything
worked out in time for the 2016 show. More information as it becomes
available in upcoming newsletters...

CIGAR EVENT:
To those of you who purchased a cigar(s) at the event-thank you...

TENT DAMAGE:

Sometime late Sunday night-early Monday morning, some UNSCRUPULOUS
SWINE(S) set off a fire extinguisher at the east side of our smoking
tent!!! This heinous act of STUPIDITY not only damaged the walls and
floor of the tent, it also cost the club a lot of money to clean and
repair the tent. If you either witnessed this happen, or heard of the
names of the SLOBS who did this, contact Craig Cobine at
porshcigar@aol.com . Don't worry, you WILL remain anonymous!!!

OTHER TENT PROBLEMS:
Unfortunately, the prom goers this year decided to TRASH the restrooms
in the Mega Center!! So in 2016, we are planning to have
port-a-potties (4 of them) set up right outside of the smoking tent.
This should also help out those who don't want to have to hike a half
a mile for some relief...
We were also made aware that some of our patrons were "watering" the
cars/trucks in the parking lot, the trees, fences, dumpsters and
everything else that was in sight. Hey, if you have to go THAT BAD, go
more often!!! I'd like to think that our patrons are more
sophisticated than acting like a bunch of drunks at a sports event...

A BIG PROBLEM:
Was the fact that this year we were prohibited from smoking in the
hotel rooms. If you haven't heard, here's the reason why... Way back
in 2008, our then Governor, Rod Blah -Goya-bich,(now a convicted FELON
serving 14 years in prison), decided to make just about EVERYWHERE in
Illinois "Smoke Free". That's how our smoking tent came about-but
that's a whole 'nother story. Anyway, at that time, Pheasant Run was
privately owned, and the family that had control, for the most part,
looked the other way-they were grateful to have us there!!! Then,
(another long story), the resort went into receivership and was
basically owned by a bank. They didn't much care if we smoked in the
rooms either, it was just another piece of property to be sold as far
as they were concerned...
So, when you get right down to it, we WERE breaking the law-but hey,
we're Chicago Guys. We're like the people in Washington D.C.--the laws
don't apply to us!!!

This year, about a week before the show, we were made aware that some
investment Group from Miami, FL. had bought the resort. We figured no
big deal, things would still be the same as they ever were. Even the
Pheasant Run staff believed this to be true.
This firm knew that there was a HUGE pipe show coming up, and that we
drop a TON of money on the place, so all was good--until they figured
out that the show was about SMOKING PIPES, not SEWER PIPES!!!!
TOBACCO PIPES??? SMOKING TOBACCO??? They FREAKED!!!

A few days before the show opened, Craig got called in for a meeting
at Pheasant Run, to talk with some representative from this investment
firm whom stated that smoking, in ANY of the guest rooms, was STRICTLY
FORBIDDEN!!!! No ifs, ands or butts (pardon the pun) about
it---PERIOD!!!
Now, Craig, and the rest of the CPCC officers were caught in between a
ROCK AND A ROCK----HARD ONES!!
We were informed that ANYONE caught smoking in their room(s) would be
facing a $250.00 fine, (which we eventually got down to $150.00), but
that Pheasant Run would also provide some form of shelter (small
tents), to smoke in placed around the grounds outside. Little
consolation when it's 30 degrees outside with frost forming on the
ground at night.

It was then decided by ALL of the CPCC officers, DAMN THE TORPEDOES,
(Miami Guys), THE SHOW MUST GO ON!!!
Also by this time, many of our exhibitor's products had already shown
up, (pallets full), and were being stored for the opening of the show.
What were we to do? Tell all these exhibitors that because of the
NO-SMOKING rule, that there wasn't going to be a show, because a lot
of people cancelled for not being able to smoke in their rooms? And
don't bother coming, because we have to ship all of your stuff
back--at your expense!! As I said, it was decided to go on with the
show anyway...

Now, some individuals had A COW, A HORSE AND 3 CHICKENS, (read hissy
fit), because they were not allowed to smoke in their room(s). And
those that did, got fined 150 bucks for doing so. Hey, you were warned
when you checked in, that there would be consequences for doing so.
Plus the fact that there were places all around the resort where you
COULD enjoy you're cigar, cigarette, or pipe. It wasn't our FAULT...we
tried to do everything we could to keep things the way they were
before!!!
Hell, I DIDN'T even smoke in MY room...

I also find it interesting that these same individuals, who were
having a major meltdown, were among the first to make reservations for
the 2016 show--go figure!!!
Aside from the shows that are being held in casinos this year, (Kansas
City and Las Vegas, possibly New Orleans), you are not allowed to
smoke in any of the other hotel rooms either. Look at what happened to
Columbus this year, the Crowne Plaza hotel is now "smoke free" also!!!

Bottom line, if not being able to smoke in your room caused YOU some
inconvenience, it absolutely DEVASTATED the CPCC officers and club
members!! The "ANTI'S" had invaded OUR "SACRED SANCTUARY", that is the
Chicago Pipe Show, and there was NOTHING that we could do about it...

THIS WAS NOT OUR IDEA...So I hope you can accept this explanation...

ROOM RESERVATIONS:
Here is another "monkey in the wrench" that we're up against!! It is
planned by the Miami Investment Group that at sometime in the near
future, ALL of the "Courtyard Rooms" will cease to exist, meaning that
they are slated to meet a date with a bulldozer. I had heard that the
reason for this is that the rooms/wing didn't meet code standards,
(handicapped accessible). The resort would have to install elevators,
40 inch wide doors, and also have to install ramps because all of the
rooms on the ground/lower level of the wing, are 3 inches above the
main floor level. It would cost Pheasant Run tens of thousands of
dollars to make these improvements--and they would STILL have rooms
that were built in the early 1960's. So from a financial aspect, this
makes sense...

However, this also means that we are LOSING 175+ rooms that WILL NOT
be rebuilt!!!
This year, Pheasant Run had over 1,200 room nights sold at our show,
(another first for CPCC), and for next year, the elimination of 175
rooms is going to be a big problem!! So, for 2016 we will have to make
rooms available in "satellite" hotels in the Pheasant Run area. Guess
what guys? You won't be able to smoke in these rooms either!! The one
consolation prize out of all of this is that for the weekend (Friday
and Saturday), of the show, Pheasant Run will ONLY be booking rooms
for the show attendees. No other people will be allowed to register...

A word to the wise, if you want to stay at the Pheasant Run resort,
BOOK YOUR ROOMS NOW!!!!!!!!
We are at this time, trying to work out a shuttle bus service for the
satellite hotels to and from Pheasant Run.

OTHER THINGS:

In talking with Brian Levine at the pre-show Friday morning, I found
out that the "Pipe Cruise" that was supposed to take place later this
summer has been cancelled. It seems that Brian only had 8-10 people
that were interested in going (he needed at least 30), and things just
weren't working out.

The Greater Kansas City Pipe Club Show is coming up June 19th-21st. If
you can, please try to attend the show!! Contact info at
www.gkcpipeclub.com ...

Mark Ryan's (Daughters & Ryan Tobacco) Perique fields bus tour at the
New Orleans show is sold out. This is NOLA'S first show, and I urge as
many of you who can to attend-It should be a GREAT time

So, that's it for this time around...

Best to ALL,
Tom Dinelli
CPCC Club Secretary
CPCC Associate Show Officer

[wdteipen]

Thanks for the heads up, George. I hate to be a doomsday kinda guy but it sounds like the beginning of the end at least for this venue.

[kamkiel]

Sounds like you guys are quite the rowdy bunch. Soon they're going to not let you in unless you're accompanied by an adult.

[sandahlpipe]

Thanks for sharing, George! I'm not a pro carver, but I still found it interesting. Guess I'm gonna have to reserve a table and book a room soon.

[paulieg]

I need to get more involved in the Chicago pipe scene. I'm a regular at Casa de Montecristo....no reason I can't hit up 8 to 8 for a meeting if it'd open to nonmembers.

[oklahoma red]

Hmmm, sounds to me like a golden opportunity for the KC club to step up their game.

[LatakiaLover]

Hmmm, sounds to me like a golden opportunity for the KC club to step up their game.

Sort of. Chicago evolved into a trade show as much as a traditional pipe show, and the logistics are probably 10X more involved. It takes a year-round full timer to organize it, and the space requirements alone limit the number of places it could be held.

The Chicago metro area is huge, though, so I imagine they'll find something.

If that can't be done, whether it will (in effect) be fragmented and the load assumed by other shows in an organized way or a casual one is the question.

[Sasquatch]

I can feel it
Humming
In the air tonight
Oh Lord



I thought this year's show felt totally different that last year's. This clears up a lot.

[pipedreamer]

George, You covered this well! Thanks for all your work.What a world we live in!

[Tyler]

Thanks for the heads up George.

I just booked.

Fwiw, the courtyard rooms are different from the golf wing rooms. I don't know which of the 8,321 turns distinguishes the two, but apparently there will still be some rooms to the right of the front desk. (When I read courtyard rooms, I imagined everything that direction gone.)

Also, the rate jumped to $155/night for ALL rooms. So if you've always stayed golf (or courtyard) to save a few bucks, that's gone away. I've stayed in both over the years and I like tower better. It's a 15 minute walk to the tent instead of 30. For me it wasn't worth the premium for the tower when it was a premium, but now that's a non-issue.