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.

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.

Chapters: Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5

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.