Newsletter Excerpts
From the April 2008 Edition

President’s Message
by B. J. Kadrma

Mike Kaul has vacated his role on the board and graciously accepted the Vice Presidency position which was vacated when Gail Yuly took over the Treasurer’s job last fall.  Wally Roshau has been appointed to serve as a board member to take over Mike Kaul’s vacated position as board member.  Pat Schmike has been appointed and approved by the board as new membership chair.  We, the officers and board, on behalf of the membership wish to thank Sandy Short for all of her years of dedicated service as membership chair.

Please continue to use the official mailing address being P. O. Box 971, Dickinson, ND  58602-0971 for all correspondence.   For those of you who have not paid your membership dues, remember that you must be a member to go to the convention, purchase a commemorative, and to have the right to put pottery pieces in our annual auction.  Membership dues that were paid at convention before the by-law change at the annual meeting were paid through December 31, 2008.  Those parties that did not pay their membership dues prior to the annual meeting were charged the new membership rate of $20.00 but were paid through December 31, 2008.  There may have been some confusion on this issue, due to prior dues being effective from June 1 of each yr. to May 31 of the following year, and some of you may have paid twice and therefore, we have been crediting the additional payment to 2009, if that is the case, rather than sending back checks, etc.   This is a going to be a good change for our club due to reporting rules for sales tax and IRS, but it may take some time to get use to the change, as all of you are used to paying your dues at convention and we will now have to remember to pay them in December.  We all have hard-to-buy-for friends, relatives, children, and grandchildren and perhaps a gift purchase of membership would be a good idea for Christmas and to buy a commemorative for their birthday.  This is just an idea to pass on to the membership as a way to create interest in our club and attract new members.

Also, since there is no longer dual membership, we are listing the member as the person who signed the check for the dues.  If this is not how you wish it to be, you will need to contact the membership chair.

The board is working on updating our NDPCS brochures to make sure that all of our information is accurate and we should have a pre-pasted insert to be placed in our brochures by convention. Please bring any old brochures you have to convention and we all can work on getting them updated, so that our information is accurate for handout at road shows and to prospective new members.

We are all looking forward to seeing all of you at Convention.  The NDPCS Board and Officers wish to thank all of the volunteers that graciously give their time and effort to doing their jobs to carry on the business of our club.

Until next issue-Good Luck treasure hunting and blessings to all of you.

Convention Chairman Report
by Will Bachmeier

This newsletter is the last issue before the catalog listing of the auction items comes out.  I urge people planning to enter auction items to do so as soon as possible.  The 2008 19th Annual  NDPCS Convention is receiving many registrations.  Please send your registration in early. because you will be most surprised at the center table pieces at the convention banquet; win one of these and you will be richly rewarded for coming to this year’s convention.  I mean it, it will be worth it!  The deadline for the Convention registrations is May 1, 2008, after this deadline, late registrations will be on a first come, first serve basis. Click here for REGISTRATION FORMS.

Remember to encourage new people who have not been at a NDPCS Convention about the First Timer Award Coupon.  Please help with ordering of this year’s commemorative.  Remember to bring items to the 2008 Show and Sale Table activity by registering for a table (s).  There will  be a number of new features at the convention.  Late registrations will be on a first come, first serve basis.  This deadline will also be May 1, 2008.

We are strongly urging and inviting contemporary North Dakota Potters to display their wares on Saturday morning from 9:00 a. m. to 11:00 a. m. for this 2nd annual Pottery Contest.  NDPCS  members will vote on the items displayed and also have an opportunity to bid on  one of the winning entries at the NDPCS Pottery Convention evening banquet Saturday evening.  Click here for ENTRY FORM.

There will be featured speakers at the convention as in the past, The theme this year is based on the Mountain Goat figurine by ROSEMEADE in concert with the GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY that is deeply connected with Minot’s rich history.  We have a train trestle near Minot that you may want to see or take photographs of for your convention photo album.

We will be distributing auction posters to the public here in Minot and area.  We also hope to have media coverage of this event through our local radio and television stations as well as our newspaper.

Note that at our Saturday evening banquet, we will auction off a bronze, silver and gold NDPCS Commemorative.  This will be your chance to obtain and own a one of a kind piece.

Our Convention will be at the Grand International Inn, June 6, 7, and 8, 2008.  A block of 150 rooms have been set aside for members of the NORTH DAKOTA POTTERY COLECTORS SOCIETY at the Grand International Inn, 1505 N. Broadway in Minot until May 23, 2008 at a special rate of $55.00.

Please Register Early!!  The Grand International Inn’s telephone # is 1-800-735-4493.

Click here for more information on the 2008 NDPCS Convention!

Alert to NDPCS E-bay sellers
by Arlene Gran,

I am a member of NDPCS who sells Rosemeade and very infrequently other North Dakota pottery on E-bay.  I have found that there is an increased interest in our beautiful Rosemeade in Australia and bidders who want to buy it.  I am sometimes selling pieces there as I offer worldwide shipment.  This is a new market for us and it is encouraging to see that buyers on the other side of the world appreciate the beauty and durability of Rosemeade.  However, only a limited number of US sellers offer shipment to Australia and thus the Australian E-bayers cannot view what is offered for shipment only within the US.  I have found this out as I am in frequent communication with a very interested new collector there who tells me he cannot view what I am telling him about in Rosemeade that I know he might be interested in.  So I inform him of new items listed, try to bid for him, save his things for a combined shipment, and eventually send those to him.  But when he sees something he wants from the US that is available for shipment to Australia, he is more than willing to spend the international shipping cost, if the handling charge is not too great.  I have found that the only additional effort necessary to ship internationally is to make a trip to the Post Office to fill out Custom forms to make sure that they are correct.  I have had no problem with international buyers being willing to pay the extra International first class postage, although that is not insurable.  International Priority is insurable, but the cost is about double.  But so far I have not experienced any problems with uninsured international shipping, if I pack well for that, but I pack well for domestic shipments also.  Shipping time usually takes about 7-14 days and international buyers know and accept that.  Pay Pal payment is the best route to go for fast payment and economy for foreign buyers.  It costs them a lot to get international money orders.  I have discussed this with a few other NDPCS members and we feel that making Rosemeade available and known about in other countries is an important mission of our group.  So I am encouraging Rosemeade sellers in the US to include shipment to Australia and Canada, if not worldwide.  You may find you get higher prices than you may expected, as these are new and eager collectors!

NDPCS Pottery “Road Show” – 11/1/2007,
Brookings, SD

The NDPCS Pottery “Road Show” was hosted by the Brookings Public Library in Brookings, SD at 7 PM on Thursday, November 1, 2007 and conducted by the Christmans. Eleven individuals attended the “Road Show” presentation and brought Rosemeade, UND and miscellaneous pottery for identification and evaluation. $75 was received as Honorarium for the NDPCS. 

NDPCS Pottery “Road Show” – 2/10/2008,
Cavalier, ND

The NDPCS Pottery “Road Show” was hosted by “The Treasure Trove”, an antique business and mall owned and operated by Mary Hines. The program was conducted by the Christmans at 2 PM on Sunday, February 10, 2008.  Ten individuals braved the actual -20 degrees below zero weather to attend the “Road Show” presentation. $100 was received as Honorarium for the NDPCS.

A total of 12 pottery items were submitted for identification and evaluation consisting of Rosemeade pieces and other pottery items not made in North Dakota.  One new NDPCS membership was received.