joestreet

Steph, That is too cool! How did you get the first clue to this discovery? Great detective work. Joe

Pretty cool Mike. I like Kokomo's and snag them whenever I get the chance. I particularly like the clear ones with lots of bubbles. Thanks for sharing the pics, Joe.

Steph, here are a few pictures. Good thread, Joe.

Dave, Congratulations on your retirement. I enjoyed the opportunity to come out and watch you and your men make marbles. You can tell a lot about a fellow by what the people around him think of him. If a man tells me he is a great guy I may or may not believe him but if everyone around him tells me he is a great guy I usually take it as the truth. It was obvious to me the night before the run when I got there and had a chance to chat with Johnny that he held you in very high regard. The next day during the run I watched Richard, Ron and Russ and the skill and effort that they put into their work was only surpassed by their obvious respect for you. When your family stopped by and I watched your interaction with them it was apparent to me that you were a very blessed man. It would seem to me that you are a man who has earned the love, admiration and respect of his family and friends. What more can a man ask for, except possibly to retire and enjoy his family and friends full time. Take care and God Bless, Joe S.

Hey Griff, Looking forward to see you there, Joe.

Thanks Steph, wish you could have made it to the show. It was pretty cool, met some real nice marble people, Ron S., Frank Sellers, Bruce B. Al, I really dropped the ball on not getting a bunch of Alley pics. There were tons of nice ones, it looks like Griff has got it covered though. Thanks to everyone for the nice comments. Joe.

1-4. Pictures of the West Virginia country side. I’m always amazed at how beautiful the country is in West Virginia, it is rivaled only by the hospitality of its people. 5. The Marble Hunter, Roy Kays sign says it all. 6. John Ives, lifetime member and current Vice President of the WVMCC. John had the largest collection of Cairo marbles that I have ever seen. Unfortunately I failed to take a picture of them. *Please see excuse for this at end of article. 7. A couple of marble guys, Gary and Vern. Vern was showing some of his killer collection of which I failed to take a picture. *Please see excuse for this at end of article. 8. Mr. Junior Ice of West Virginia. Junior always has a huge selection of vintage Marble Kings of which I failed to take a picture. *Please see excuse for this at end of article. 9. I caught this motley crew in the lobby of the hotel; actually the two on the right are the motley ones. The fellow on the left is Frank Sellers, grandson of Lawrence E. Alley who’s marbles were the theme of the WVMCC show. The man in the middle is none other than Bruce Burkhart (AKA Triker) and to the right of him is my good buddy Steve Sturtz. 10. Dave McCullough and company. 11. Jim King, I got a couple of nice Jabo oxblood’s from him. 12. At the show, some of the usual suspects; Chuck B. and Griff. I tell ya, that Griff should loosen up a little; he’s such a dour fellow. 13. Chucks better half, Diane along with Bob Neff, John Ives is in the background. 14. Ron Shepard manning the Alley Display. There was a lot more to the Alley display than what you see here but of course I failed to take better pictures. *Please see excuse for this at end of article. This was my first opportunity to meet Ron, he was ever bit as nice as Chuck said he was. 15. The indefatigable Dan Grocki, for a fellow who claims to be retired he sure gets around. 16. Some of Dan’s marbles. (Which I didn’t forget to take a picture of I might add.) 17. Some more of Dan’s marble display. 18. Mike of Marquee Marbles, for some reason I called him Mark every time I seen him, he must have thought I was an idiot. Sorry Mark, er, uh… 19. Some of Mike’s marbles, he had a dynamite display of onyx corkscrews. 20. Some more of Mike’s marbles. 21. Two really sweet people, Andy and Trudy. I got some great Champion Furnace Swirls from them. 22. Some of Trudy and Andy’s marbles. 23. Frank Sellers, Jennings Eddy and myself. Mr. Eddy worked for Frank’s grandfather in 1943 at the Saint Mary’s location. He was fifteen years old when he worked for L. E. Alley. We had an interesting conversation of how times have changed, think of a time when a fifteen year old worked in a manufacturing facility where molten glass was part of the mix. Wow!!! The oppurtunity to meet people like this is one of the best reasons to go to marble shows. 24. Kids and marbles, does it get any better than that? *In case you hadn’t noticed I didn’t have my usual sidekicks with me. My kid’s social agenda didn’t allow them to come with me; they opted to go to “Beach Day” at school instead of accompanying me to the show. Without their assistance I was a little off my square and didn’t do the usual job that I would have with their help. They have been told that they will be joining me on the road to the Columbus show and that they needed to clear their calendar of anything that will interfere with the trip. Thanks for looking, Joe.