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The Wildwood Chronicles


Steph

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Debra Stanley-Lapic the National Marbles Champion of 1973 hasn't missed a national tournament in 37 years. She has a wealth of information, not to mention photos, which she'll share if there is interest. Here is the first installment ... from this year's tournament ... a very special event!

I have the privilege of posting this time while the Lapic family is traveling, celebrating and unwinding! But Debra will be back to field your questions if you have any.

Thank you, Debra! The pix and captions are classic!

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National Finals.....Whitney Lapic, Berks County, PA and Penelope Bauer, Allegheny County, PA

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The traditional kiss

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2009 National Marble Champions....Ricky Brode, Cumberland, MD and Whitney Lapic, Berks County, PA

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Whitney shooting during National finals

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Lining up a shot

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Last years National Champs crowning the new champs

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Me crowning my daughter.....a very proud moment

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Mibsters with attitude, lol

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The most adorable prequel ... Whitney was destined to be a National Marbles Champion ....

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Whitney practicing her winning moment.....12 years before it was needed, lol

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Whitney's first National Marbles Tournament, just learning to shoot.

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Trying to take her first shot at 9 months..........those are itty bitty knee pads!!

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Too kewl!! Congratulations to the winners!

The baby pictures are just adorable!

I wouldn't even know where to start or what to do. How do you find kids who'd want to learn when you don't even know how to play? I think it's great kids are doing this rather than being couch potatoes.

Thanks for sharing.

:-) Felicia

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Ditto Felicia! Maybe more of us collectors need to learn how to play! Time to start doing thumb exercises. One time I asked my husband if he would play with me. He said suuurrrre, if I could find some marbles I wouldn't mind getting dinged up.

I did finally put together a jar of marbles like that! exactly with the idea of playing! But I never followed through.

Maybe I'll go do some target practice now! LOL

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  • 2 years later...

Last week, (June 22) I was honored to have my book, presented to eleven-year-old Logan Mayberry of Clay County, Tenn., and 13-year-old Caleb Isaacson of Gunnison, Colo. (I was not able to post a picture, so click on www.marblekeeper.com)..the winners of the 89th Annual National Marbles Tournament, in Wildwood, NJ. Among marble players this annual event is like going to the Olympics. Boys and girls, ages eight to fourteen, practice all year to compete for five days in Wildwood (Atlantic City), New Jersey. At the Thursday evening banquet a King and Queen are crowned. The grand prize for each (boy & girl) winner is a $2,000 scholarship, a trophy and a copy of my new book, Collecting Marbles: A Beginner's Guide, by Richard Maxwell.

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  • 11 years later...

A couple of weeks ago I attended the 100th anniversary National Marbles Tournament. Things went pretty well, considering that the tourney is still rebuilding after two years of Covid cancellations. The weather was fine for two days, and then heavy rains wiped out the entire 3rd day of competition (not the first time in NMT history, as was reported in some places).

On the 4th and last day, the 3rd day's preliminary playoffs, semi-finals, and finals were all played out indoors at the Wildwood Convention Center, followed by the awards ceremonies at the NMT Hall of Fame. The last day of activities was over 16 hours long. The 2023 championss (Isaiah Garcia from Philadelphia, PA and Jessica Thompson from Middletown Valley, MD) were crowned well past midnight. Jessica was doubly honored by being voted the tournament's "Best Sport on the Beach" among the girls. The Best Sport among the boys was Bentley Dillon (Doddridge County, WV) who played in his first NMT, finished next to last, but handled it like a true champ.

In May, I previously mentioned a blog that I was posting about "The Birth of the NMT" (https://lostmarblestories.wordpress.com/2023/04/29/about-lost-marbles-stories/), which covered people and events of 1922 and 1923. Before going to Wildwood, I reformated the blog material into a 68-page illustrated booklet ("How the NMT Got Started"), had several dozen privately printed, and gave out copies at the NMT to folks who expressed some interest in the topic. I gave some copies to the Wildwood Historical Society "Boyer Museum," which is selling them for $10 each. I have a few copies left, and can send one at the same cost to anyone who mails me an address and $10 (which barely covers the printing and first class mail costs). As a "newbie," I'm not sure if my contact info is openly available here yet. (Please email me at [email protected] for my snail mail address.)

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  • 3 weeks later...

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