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Click
here for the 2011 WCPS photo gallery
Las Vegas 2011 Report:
The West Coast Pipe Show Keeps Getting Bigger and Better!
By Steve Johnson
President, Southwest Pipe & Cigar League
When organizers Steve O’Neill and Marty Pulvers
undertook their first West Coast Pipe Show in 2009, it was an auspicious
occasion for bringing it to Las Vegas. Another Los Angeles show
would be all but impossible, so many were grateful to have Steve
and Marty work toward a southwest show that was clearly in demand.
Considering the challenges involved, the 2009 event went remarkably
well, but what they did to keep it going was nothing short of incredible.
The 2nd annual show took place on November 6 and 7, 2010, and with
the tremendous upsurge of activity, it became abundantly clear that
the organizers had a major hit on their hands. Anticipation came
in the air soon after, and with a lot of buzz going into 2011, there
was also a question – would the momentum
continue? The weekend of November 5 and 6 proved that the answer
is YES!
I began my sojourn with
our club’s secretary/treasurer Robert Rudd as we headed out Friday,
November 4. After traveling on a rainy drive through the desert,
we safely arrived at the Palace Station Hotel about 5 p.m. It was
great to see some old friends checking in with us, although we still
had to find out what would be in store at the casino. I was eager
for a visit, so before my bags were even stowed in the room, I had
to go through and have a look for myself. And what a nice look it
was! Pipe smokers all over the place, including
a few very active tables next to Jack’s Irish Pub. It’s the
kind of unique informal gathering that can only happen right before
a pipe show.
At 8 on Saturday morning,
the exhibitors began assembling their displays. The bare handful
of last minute no-shows detracted nothing from the 100+ tables that
were being filled to capacity. When the show opened to the public
at 10, it was go time. As impressive as the crowd was last year,
this time we had it beat! And I’ll say again what I said in the
2010 report, because some amazing history repeated itself: I’ve
been to my fair share of pipe shows over the years. First, there
would be a big crowd in the morning. Next, there would be a lull
around lunchtime, then another influx of people in the early afternoon.
Finally, the foot traffic would taper off getting toward closing
time. However, the 2010 show defied my expectations of what would
be the normal ebb-and-flow for this kind of event. The action was
pretty much nonstop from beginning to end,
and exciting to see that so many people actually had to be chased
out at 5 p.m. Well, the same thing happened here this time, so for
the second year in a row all I can say is – WOW!
Now I’ll give you an
overview of the diverse exhibitors who displayed at the 2011 show.
But before I do, I’d like to mention a couple of things. First,
I have been privileged to be the “official” photographer at Steve
O’Neill’s request since I began doing it at the first Las Vegas
show. Not only am I happy to do it, I also
wanted to put together my best photo gallery yet. We’re now using
Windows Live, so I hope our visual presentation will do a better
job of covering the gaps that won’t make it into the report. Second,
taking notes and trying to remember the particulars of everyone
who exhibited is at best challenging. It is inevitable that some
exhibitors got overlooked, so I offer my apologies to those who
I did not include here.
Let’s start off with
our collectors’ contingent. First, we were glad to have pipe collector
and longtime Southwest Pipe & Cigar League member Lowell Ellis
with us again. Lowell has been both an experienced collector and
a great guy to deal with for many years. Our other collectors and
SWPCL members were John Ferraro, Bob Noble, Rob Denholtz, Al Grosskopf,
and Mike Edborg, all showing fine displays. Mike was also with the
Northern California Pipe Show for a few years, so we were glad to
see him there with our friends and former NCPS members Tom Pfaeffle
and Rich Curll. Rex Poggenpohl of the Chicagoland Pipe Collectors
Club displayed a very nice collection as well, and I especially
enjoyed spending some time with him. Collector Charles Scholl introduced
us to Las Vegas for the first time in 2009, and this is his third
trip out from Ohio. Collector extraordinaire
Dennis Congos joined us for his second time at WCPS. Dennis has
a long-standing and well deserved reputation in the pipe community,
so we were honored to award him as “Outstanding Pipe Collector”
at the Saturday night dinner. Last, but not least, southern California
collector Mario Persico displayed a poignant tribute to Rainer Barbi,
who passed away suddenly in 2011. Those who were fortunate enough
to know him understood what a great person he was, and we will miss
Rainer dearly.
The show sported a tremendous
number of pipe exhibits, so let’s continue with a look at our American
pipemakers. First and foremost is Paul Perri. He is called the “dean
of American pipemakers”, and for a very good reason. With his 80+
years of experience, it’s always wonderful to have him at the show,
so the excellent pipes at his display are a rare treat for anyone
who can be there. Paul was in good company with other outstanding
makers who represent some of the best in American pipecraft today:
Bob Swanson (Perry White Pipes, Ft.
Lauderdale FL – 36 years), Brad Pohlmann (Jacksonville,
OR – 35 years), James Cooke (JT Cooke Pipes,
Burlington, VT –
26 years), Horace DeJarnett
(DeJarnett Pipes, northern Arizona
– 18 years), Lee
Von Erck (Negaunee, MI –
16 years), Joe Skoda (Skoda
Pipes, Philmont, NY – 14 years), Bob Kiess (Dr. Bob Pipes, Sharon, VT – 13 years), Todd Johnson (Todd M. Johnson Pipes, Nashville, TN – 11 years), Simeon Turner (Turner Pipes, Denver,
CO – 8 years), Jeff Gracik (J. Alan Pipes, San Diego,
CA – 6 years), Will Purdy (Louisville,
CO – 6 years full-time), Jon Rinaldi (J. Rinaldi Pipes, Sonoita,
AZ – 6 years), Charles Cole (Cole Pipes, Thayne, WY – 4 years), Ernie Markle (Markle Pipes, Scottsdale, AZ – less than 2 years), Nathan Armentrout
(Armentrout
Pipes, Lancaster, CA –
1 year), and Eric Heberling (EJH
Pipes, Arizona – 1 year). It was remarkable to consider
the depth of “home-grown” expertise being shown here. I was also
surprised by the accomplishments of makers with a relatively short
time under their belts.
New European pipes were
also in force at the show. British craftsman Ian Walker of Northern
Briars continues an august tradition of pipemaking, and it was
a pleasure to see him for the second time in Las Vegas. Danish maker
Tonni
Nielsen (now living in Tennessee) displayed more gems from his
workshop. Danish carver Kjeld Sřrensen made his debut at WCPS under
the name of Red Hat Pipes.
European briar was impressively represented by the show’s retail
presence as well. Online retailers are certainly a key component,
so I’d like to mention Sally Gottliebson of The
Pipe Tart, Joel Shurtleff of TheBriarPipe,
Pipe Makers Emporium, Pipes2Smoke, NeatPipes of Milan, and SmokingPipes.com for their
valuable participation at Las Vegas. The same goes for Donald Seatter
of James Island Piper
and Robert Lawing of Lawdog’s Pipes (also going under The Pipe and Pint),
who carry a fine selection of new and estate pipes.
Although brick-and-mortar
shops have been in stiff competition with Internet retailers, it
is heartening to see that the more traditional pipe and tobacco
stores continue to be an important part of the pipe-smoking community.
Besides Mr. Lawing’s establishment at The Pipe and Pint, I was pleased
to see two more examples of this at the show – Liberty Tobacco of San Diego,
and Ye Olde Pipe & Tobacco Shoppe in Phoenix, AZ. Liberty has
been around for a long time, and it was nice to see a local southern
California brick-and-mortar retailer being represented in Las Vegas.
Ye Olde Pipe & Tobacco Shoppe was another great presence coming from the southwest, with
perhaps the single most impressive display on hand during the weekend.
Now let’s round out our
list of exhibitors. Gerard Ezvan represented Vauen
Pipes, giving us a second year in Las Vegas to ogle a very fine
display of German pipes and tobaccos. Importer David Field of R.D.
Field was also with us again, this time for his third year.
Tobacco Pipe Exports
came in with a good mix of pipes, tobaccos, and cigars. SWPCL member
Chance Whittamore displayed
some excellent examples of his pipe restoration knowledge. Organizer
Steve O’Neill is a great pipe restorer in his own right, so it was
only fitting that he could put that expertise on display as well.
Co-organizer Marty Pulvers and his wife
Joy were next door neighbors with David Field, as Marty was up to
his eyeballs juggling between show duties and what he had going
on at his table. Although we missed MacBaren Tobacco’s presence
this year, it was gratifying to see that master tobacco blender
Russ Ouellette
wasn’t going to leave us out in the cold on the tobacco manufacturing
side of things. In fact, his Saturday afternoon seminar gave us
an invaluable opportunity for some education on tobacco blending.
I was glad to hear such an informative and interesting talk last
year, so definitely worth repeating at the 2011 show! Manufacturer
Mark Ryan of D & R Tobacco complimented Russ’ display. (The
history of Perique – and Mark’s key role in saving it from extinction
– is covered in a fascinating article published online by PIPESMagazine.com.)
When
5:00 rolled around Saturday, the last seven hours seemed like it
just evaporated. But hotel security had a job to do as the ballroom
was cleared in preparation for the Awards dinner. Palace Station
prepared two banquet rooms – one for cocktails at 6, while the second
room set up the dinner itself. At 7, it began with people filing
in, and a crowd of 92 left no empty seats available. Still
another repeat of last year, so we knew that we were in for an exceptional
evening. Compared to the day’s rather frenetic activity,
being able to spend time with friends old and new gives us the chance
to relax and enjoy our special camaraderie. While this is a wonderful
part of any pipe show, my opinion is that WCPS has become one of
the premier show dinners in the country.
The
Palace Station’s catering department has been consistently excellent,
as evidenced by once again providing a sumptuous Italian buffet
accompanied with complimentary red and white wines. The buffet was
topped off by a tasty dessert menu and coffee (or tea, if you’d
prefer). Each banquet guest was also treated to a very nice selection
of tinned pipe tobaccos generously donated by Altadis International.
Upon the end of our feasting, Steve O’Neill introduced the guest
speaker, Neill Archer Roan. Neill has been quite active in the online
pipe community, and he gave us an engaging talk about his work.
What he said dovetails with the perspective advocated in Kevin Godbee’s
guest speech at the 2010 WCPS dinner. Given the significance of
the Internet for promoting our hobby among younger generations of
pipe smokers, we need websites like A Passion for Pipes
now more than ever.
After
Neill’s talk, Steve presented the 2011 WCPS awards to: Simeon Turner
for “Most Improved Pipemaker”, Dennis Congos for “Outstanding Pipe
Collector”, and Paul Perri for “Lifetime Achievement”.
We cannot say enough about how truly remarkable Paul is. Following
the awards presentation, United
Pipe Clubs of America president Vernon Vig discussed the UPCA’s
ongoing mission to promote clubs across the country. With that,
a lovely dinner was coming to an end. However, we weren’t quite
ready to call it a night yet, so some of us repaired to the cocktail
room. Enjoyable conversations continued until the bartender closed
up shop at 1 a.m., but as much as I wanted to keep it going in the
casino, we still had a full day ahead of us. Guess I needed to get
a little sleep anyway!
The
ballroom had airtight security over everything, so when 9 a.m. came
on Sunday, the exhibitors didn’t need much to get their displays
back up. Then it was go time again at 10 as the show opened to the
public. While foot traffic was likely to be lighter than Saturday,
I was pleasantly surprised to see that we had more of a crowd than
we did on Sunday last year. More exhibitors were staying all the
way through to 3 p.m. – and so were more attendees. Looking at both
days, attendance by the public was well in excess of 500 people.
There is no doubt that WCPS is continuing to grow!
We
owe Steve O’Neill, Linda O’Neill, and Marty Pulvers a huge debt
of gratitude for all the tremendous work they’ve been doing. Their
success is the reason why the West Coast Pipe Show has taken off
in such a big way, and Steve’s teamwork with his lovely wife
says it best: “There literally would not be a West Coast Pipe Show
without her.” I’d also like to give a major “thank you” to the supporters
who donated excellent pipes to the silent auction, as well as to
Altadis International for the tinned tobaccos provided at the Awards
dinner. And finally, we can’t thank the staff of the Palace Station
Hotel and Casino enough – they treated us so well, and did a superb
job on all fronts.
As
we look back at another phenomenal year, we’re also looking forward
to an even bigger and better show in 2012. We’re on for the weekend
of November 3 and 4, and be sure to check out the 4th
Annual West Coast Pipe Show on the Web for more information.
I will now leave you with two pieces of advice. First, if
you’re even thinking about being an exhibitor at the show next year,
I strongly suggest that you buy your exhibit space as soon as possible
– it’s bound to sell out even faster than it did for 2011. Second,
if you weren’t able to attend the show this year, you really, really,
really missed out. I know it might seem way too early to start making
plans, but mark the dates now, and do everything you can to be there.
Click
here for the 2011 WCPS photo gallery
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