The PCA TX Annual Meeting weekend began on Friday, February 23 when 12 members gathered for a “down home cooked meal” at Goodson’s Cafe in Tomball, Texas.
Saturday morning, 18 members and 5 guests gathered in the meeting room at the Hampton Inn & Suites in Tomball and began browsing the large selection of weights brought by Guest Dealer Eric Jump. At 10:00 AM, President Mike Taylor called the Annual Meeting to order, welcoming members and thanking Eric Jump and Toni Chambers for making the trip to Texas.
Treasurer and Membership Chair Jan Whitley reported that the balance of all accounts and that she is still receiving 2024 membership dues. Membership stands at 69 representing 35 cities and 9 states.
President Taylor announced that both the Scholarship Chair and Hospitality Chair positions are still open. The main responsibility of the Hospitality Chair would be selecting the restaurants and booking dinner reservations for the meeting weekends. A discussion was held on ways to enhance the PCA TX Facebook Group and to reach out to other groups with a shared interest in glass art.
Webmaster Sam Terry reported that traffic on our website is trending down. He reminded members that there is a link to the PCA TX Facebook Group posted on the website, as well as many hot links to artists, paperweight companies, regional paperweight groups, glass museums and demos.
President Taylor expressed his appreciation to Nominating Committee members for the 2024 officers Slate: Allen Boyd, President; Ted Glover, Vice President; Jan Whitley, Treasurer; Claire Terry, Secretary. A motion to accept the slate by acclamation passed unanimously. Treasurer Jan Whitley presented outgoing president Mike Taylor with a dealer gift certificate in honor of his service to PCA TX.
Many members shared their remembrances of recently deceased member Carl Carter. His welcoming nature, his enthusiasm, his generosity with his paperweight knowledge, his loyal friendship and his great smile will be a lasting legacy.
After the lunch break, winning names for the door prizes were selected. There was one lucky winner of a Ken Rosenfeld paperweight donated by the Estate of Carl Carter.
Eric Jump gave an exciting preview of the upcoming May 15–18 PCA, Inc. Convention: Artist Fair; Glass Paperweight Fair; an ID clinic; day trips to museums; and a showing of the new documentary “Paul Stankard: Flower & Flame.” The afternoon presentation by Eric Jump was “Wait, Who Made These!? New Evidence in a Long Debated Group of Mystery Paperweights.” This was a fascinating detective tale tracing his research into the origin of a group of weights often called “Lily of the Valley” weights. Clues from previous articles by paperweight experts, a zodiac silhouette cane, and articles by a Baccarat factory manager led him to conclude that these paperweights might have been made at the Baccarat factory.
Eric Jump also served as auctioneer for the second Christine Callahan scholarship weight. This weight was inspired by the stained glass windows in Paris churches that she visited while attending a course funded by PCA TX. The auction raised $500 to fund future scholarships for glass artists.
Saturday evening, members enjoyed a festive farewell dinner at Pecos Grilling Company.
