We Meet the First Tuesday
of the Month in Stoughton, MA.
Next Meeting is Tuesday, February 2, 2016 at 7:00 PM
or meet early at C.B. Perkins at 5 PM Cobb's Corner, Canton.
Meeting
Club
Info & Events
Details
from the January Club Meeting
This month's meeting was all about decisions and we had a
great turn out of members to help us make them. There was lots of
discussion and lots of good ideas presented. Here are the decisions
that were made.
Annual General Meeting.
January will now be considered our official annual meeting where
we will take care of general business for the upcoming year and
have elections for new officers.
Elections
Elections were held for President, Secretary and Treasurer. There
were no members interested in the offices of President or Secretary
so the incumbents remained in office. However, due to medical reasons,
Rick Frederics has officially resigned from his role as Treasurer
and that office was vacant. A motion was made, seconded and passed
to elect Derek Guckert as the new Treasurer of the Sherlock Holmes
Pipe Club. Thanks and congratulations to Derek for taking on this
important office. Rick, we miss you and hope to see you soon.
Dues
We have not collected dues in a few years but it was time now to
revisit the collection of dues again to ensure all yearly costs
are covered. After much discussion it was decided that we will begin
to collect dues again at a rate of $40 per year
for all active members. Dues is due by the February meeting and
pro-rated monthly for new members only who join later in the year.
New members joining Jan-Mar will pay $40, Apr - June $30, July-Sept
$20 and Oct-Dec $10. No money will be collected from new members
on their first visit. Dues may be adjusted by the body at the general
meeting each January..
New Committees
Two new committees were formed at the January meeting. One committee,
lead by Neil Morris will look into the possibility of creating some
new SHPC tobacco blends. The second Activities
Committee lead by Kevin Catanzarro, will explore ideas
for club activities and events.
SHPC Club Card A vote was passed to discontinue the SHPC Club Card in
favor of using the prize money for that initiative to help fund
the holiday party raffle.
SHPC
Pipe Carving Contest This
year SHPC will hold its first amateur pipe carving contest. Seven
members have agreed to participate in the contest using a pre-drilled
pipe carving kit from Vermont
Freehand. Steve Norse at Vermont Freehand was kind enough to
cover the shipping in support of our contest. Thanks Steve.
The rules are as follows:
You have the entire year to carve the pipe. Pipes will be judged
at the December 2016 meeting. Prizes, if any, have not yet been
determined but the winner will have all the glory.
You must do ALL of the work yourself however, you may
get advice from others who know more about pipe making. You may
also get assistance to enlarge the tobacco chamber if desired
since this will not effect the overall design of the pipe.
If you have a major issue with your block you can purchase
another one of the same type from Vermont
Freehand
You may also purchase another pre-made stem of a different
style from Vermont Freehand if you wish or add your own embellishments
like rings or other types of woods if you are so inclined.
Invisible
Enemy - A short story by Ernie
Whitenack
From
the Intro.... Hitler’s hidden diamonds and gold were allocated
to fund a secret organization. It was a terrorist group known as
Werwolf (Werewolf) who would disrupt and confuse the Allied occupation,
and planned to overthrow the Allies, and then carry the fight to
the East and Soviet Russia.
Chapter 5 ... “Ian, there are two areas of activity the APN
and Stasi are engaged in where we need your help. One involves a
bit of historical explanation and the other involves US forces in
Bavaria. First, there is the matter of a huge fortune in gold and
diamonds supposedly hidden in the forest near Mittenwald, Bavaria
and close to the Austrian border.”
It seems some sheet music, that was allegedly marked-up by Bormann,
containing code revealing the location of this alleged loot has
reappeared several times since 1945 – enough times to cause
the security service to look into the legend. The most common theory,
according to code breakers, has the hiding place around Mittenwald.
(Read
Chapter 5)
Tobacco
Review......................
by Tom Nyzio
The Squire’s Mixture - James
J Fox & Co. Ltd
I
don’t smoke a lot, but I like to try different tobaccos. This
invariably leads to my buying tins that look interesting, eventually
opening them and trying a couple of bowls, and more often than not
giving the rest away.
This is what I expected to happen with a tin of The
Squire’s Mixture (blended in Germany for James J. Fox &
Co., Ltd). The tin stated that was a “Medium Strength Turkish
Blend,” which appealed to my taste in tobacco. The tin languished
in a box for a few years, and a few days ago, I finally decided
to open it. I wasn’t sure what to expect, because I’d
learned that this was a British-style “Lakeland” tobacco,
with an added perfumed, flowery topping. My fears were confirmed
when I opened the tin and was met with an overpowering stench of
lavender. To be blunt, the image it conjured was of a sachet in
some old woman’s bloomer drawer. Fearing it would “ghost”
one of my good pipes, I decided to sacrifice a Dr. Grabow Eldorado.
The tobacco itself appeared fairly normal, a ribbon
cut with pieces of dark broken flake mixed in, and was soft and
springy. Research indicated that it contained Cavendish, Oriental/Turkish,
Virginia and Latakia. After loading the pipe, I took an unlit draw
and could taste a bit of lavender. Upon lighting it, however, an
amazing transformation took place. I no longer tasted lavender,
but rather, a natural, very mellow Oriental blend. It also produced
large volumes of smoke without a trace of the perfume. It burned
all the way to the bottom of the bowl, and all seemed right with
the world. The next day I decided to try a second bowl. I didn’t
detect any remaining scent in the pipe from the day before, so I
filled up and lit it. My experience was similar to that of the previous
day, but I think I detected a faint sweetness in the smoke. Still,
it was very satisfying, and again it burned to the bottom of the
bowl. As good as it was, I could only wonder why they felt compelled
to be so heavy-handed with the lavender.
Would I buy it again? Probably not; I already have
too many tins that need to be opened and smoked for me to keep adding
to the collection. I can say, however, that I’ll be keeping
this one for myself.
Piper
Profile - Tom Crean
Tom
Crean is one of my all time favorite "heroes of the
bowl". Participated on three Antarctic explorations,
helped save the lives of 30 men and as you can see... knows
how to rock a briar. Crean, was considered one of the toughest
men in the Endurance Antarctic expedition lead by Ernest Shackleton.
If you have not heard or seen anything about this expedition
then I urge you to watch this
video.
from Wikipedia...
Thomas "Tom" Crean (Irish: Tomás Ó
Croidheáin; 25 February 1877 – 27 July 1938),
was an Irish seaman and Antarctic explorer from Annascaul
in County Kerry. He was a member of three major expeditions
to Antarctica during the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration,
including Captain Scott's 1911–13 Terra Nova Expedition.
This saw the race to reach the South Pole lost to Roald Amundsen
and ended in the deaths of Scott and his polar party. During
this expedition, Crean's 35 statute miles (56 km) solo walk
across the Ross Ice Shelf to save the life of Edward Evans
led to him receiving the Albert Medal for Lifesaving.
Crean had left the family farm near Annascaul to enlist in
the Royal Navy at the age of 15. In 1901, while serving on
Ringarooma in New Zealand, he volunteered to join Scott's
1901–04 Discovery Expedition to Antarctica, thus beginning
his exploring career. After his Terra Nova experience, Crean's
third and final Antarctic venture was as second officer on
Ernest Shackleton's Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, on
Endurance. After Endurance became beset in the pack ice and
sank, Crean and the ship's company spent months drifting on
the ice before a journey in boats to Elephant Island. He was
a member of the crew which made an open boat journey of 800
nautical miles (1,500 km) from Elephant Island to South Georgia,
to seek aid for the stranded party.
Crean's contributions to these expeditions sealed his reputation
as a polar explorer, and earned him a total of three Polar
medals. After the Endurance expedition, he returned to the
navy; when his naval career ended in 1920 he moved back to
County Kerry. In his home town of Annascaul, Crean and his
wife Ellen opened a pub called the "South Pole Inn",
where he lived quietly and unobtrusively until his death in
1938.
Country
Squire Radio
Below are links to the Country Squire Radio episodes that
aired since the last Gazette. See them live on Monday Evenings
at around 6:30 PM Central Time on YouTube.
International
Pipe Smoking Day 2016 Well
it's that time of year again. The day of celebration for pipe smokers
across the globe. The good thing about #IPSD this year is that it
is falls on a Saturday which makes it much easier for our briar
brethren to get together and celebrate. What do you have planned
for this year's IPSD? Be sure to bring your ideas to the February
meeting and let's make it happen.
Tobacco
Raffle These are the remaining blends left over from
the holiday party tobacco purchase.
Sutliff No. 5 (1.5 oz tin) Blend
5 is perfect for anyone looking for an all-day type of Latakia blend.
A good share of the black Cyprian leaf is combined with fully tumbled
pressed Virginias and just a bit of mellow white Burley to adds
richer body.
Spectre (1.75 oz tin) It's
a rich blend of Virginias, Orientals and Latakia with a mixture
of cigar leaf from around the world. The flavor
is totally unique and remarkably satisfying. For a singular and
exotic experience, try Spectre pipe tobacco.
Prince Albert (1.5 oz pouch) Prince
Albert from the pouch smells of figs and raisins, a fill and pack
tobacco, that takes to the match easily and burns free and steady.
If smoked slow and cool, you will be rewarded with a slightly sweet,
nutty flavor, typical of a burley tobacco, fast and hot, the burley
bitters.