Club Info & Events

Details of the December Meeting
Despite the fact that quite a few regulars could not attend the December meeting we still had a respectable turnout. It was nice to see Ted back for a return visit and our old friend Rich was back again as well. Derek came with his entourage which seems to be growing monthly and we may be adding another new member to our ranks. The one positive side to the low turnout this particular month was that we had our "free" holiday tobacco raffle. Six tins of tobacco, including a couple of large tins, were raffled off and almost everyone member present took a tin home with them. The big hit seemed to be the new blends by the Seattle Pipe club which are blended by Russ Oulette of pipesandcigars.com. I have to admit the Mississippi River and Plum Pudding are both excellent tobaccos and highly recommended. And don't be fooled by the name... the Plum Pudding doesn't taste like an aromatic, it's very good. Both blends are currently out of stock but I'm told they hope to blending up a new batch after the first of the year.
The other main topics of conversation were our new club pipe (more on this below), a revisit of our new dues structure and the upcoming Kaywoodie Holiday Party which everyone was looking forward to and was well attended by SHPC.

2009 Club Dues is Due
It's that time again folks. Club dues for 2009 ($30) must be paid in full by the March meeting. Those of you who do not want to pay up front can continue to pay $5 for each meeting you attend. This new structure seemed to work out pretty well last year so we'll try it again for another year. If you'd like to review the dues structure in more detail click here.

The 2008 SHPC Club Pipes Are In!!!
Yes, that's right, the 2008 club pipes are in and will be distributed at the January meeting.
We ended up with a total order of 12 pipes and after showing the prototype off at the Kaywoodie Holiday Party we could have ordered a few more. This pipe came out awesome and although these images came out pretty good... you really need to see it in person (click to enlarge). We had checks in hand for three more pipes from a few guys at Kaywoodie but when I called Lepeltier to try to get them done with our current batch I was told the processes needs to be done in batches of twelve. Based on the interest we've gotten so far we would like to do up another batch but we need to have an order as close to a dozen pipes as possible to get the ball rolling. Anyone reading this newsletter, whether you're a member or not, Sherlock Holmes fan and pipe smoker alike, who would like to order one of these awesome collectibles, please send us an email. If we can get at least 10 orders we'll probably go ahead and have another batch made. The price for the pipe right now will be $83 (plus $5 S&H if we need to mail it to you). So who wants one???

Member Contributions ....... by Horace Harker
Radice Trunk Show at Peretti's
I'll be honest with you... with Christmas right around the corner I had no real intention of buying a pipe when I attended the Radice trunk show at Peretti's on November 29th. Once I got there however, it was almost impossible not to. The last time I looked at Radice pipes the prices were too high for even my non-Christmas budget but today things were quite a bit different. Tim and I were the only SHPC regular members to make it to the show but I'm pretty sure some of you will be kicking yourself in the butt that you missed it. We met at Remington's for lunch before heading over to the shop. Oh, I almost fogot... we did run into our old friend Paul Dunn. It's always good seeing one of our alumni.
When we arrived we were both pretty eager to get into the back room and see what they had to offer. There were some really excellent deals on some really beautiful pipes and I knew after after about five minutes that there was no way I could leave their empty handed; and by the look on Tim's face, he wouldn't be either. Marzio Radice was also at the shop but didn't speak much English and had to leave shortly after we got there.
It was a tough decision to make but a few beauties caught my eye and after looking them over and over again, I finally decided on a quarter bent poker from the Underwood line with a candle drip finish. I have a number of pipes that I've bought and put away on the rack and have yet to smoke them, but I couldn't do that with this one. I had to smoke it that night and it's been a great smoke from bowl one. Tim picked up a beautiful Collection Clear from the Special Series.
I tried to do a little recruiting while I was there but didn't have much luck. Both guys I talked to lived closer to the city which made Peretti's a little more convenient and accessible for them.
All in all it was a great time... I wish more of you could have been there.

Kaywoodie Holiday Party & Northeast Regional Pipe Smoking Contest. .......by Horace Harker
As always the 2008 Kaywoodie Holiday Party and Northeast Regional Pipe Smoking Contest was an absolute blast. It's pipe smoking nirvana at it's best. Seriously, this is my favorite pipe related event of the year. I'd even go so far as to say that if someone told me they'd pay my way to the Chicago Show with $1000 cash for buying pipes but I'd have to miss the next 3 Kaywoodie Holiday Parties, I think I'd probably have to pass. Honestly, this is a great event where pipe smokers come together and do what they like to do best.... talk pipes, buy pipes, smoke pipes, eat and drink alcohol (and without anyone saying a negative word about it). And what's a manly smoking gathering without a little "healthy" competition thrown in there to add to the excitement. Approximately 40 pipe smokers from 5 clubs and one online forum were in attendance (we had 11 strong from SHPC). New high grade pipes were available from Kaywoodie, Rolando Negoita and Tim Hynick and as always there were plenty of estate pipes available as well. Paul Bonaquisti was unable to make it this year due to other obligations and his absence was noticed. Mel Feldman also decided to take this year off and I'm still trying to figure out why ;-).
The day normally starts with folks trickling in between 12:30 and 2:00 and everyone takes some time catching up on the past year's happenings over a bowl\ of tobacco or two. About mid way through the day, Bill does his usual tour of the factory for the new folks and for those guys who just can't get enough of this kind of stuff. I took quite a bit of video from the tour this year which you can view below (10 minutes). After the tour it's time for the feast. This year we had chicken in a white wine sauce with onions and pepperchinis, penne carbonara, sausage with peppers/onions, meatballs, linguini primavera in garlic/oil, eggplant parmigana, 3ft italian hero, 3ft chicken/roasted red pepper/mozarella hero, and bread/butter. For desert there were holiday cookies and cake. Everything was delicious! Once our bellies were filled to and sometimes beyond capacity it's was time for the main event... the Northeast Regional Pipe Smoking Contest sponsored by the United Pipe Clubs of America. Well over an hour's worth of awe inspiring, spine tingling, smoking action. This year's contest pipe was made, as usual, by Bill Feuerbach himself and this year he made a dark sandblasted apple and a handful of folks got one in a natural stain.. Every Kaywoodie contest pipe has been a good smoker (except for that first smoke for some reason) and always makes it into my regular rotation. The tobacco for the contest was supplied by Peter Stokkeybe and I must say, it's was not one of my favorites. I also took video throughout the contest (we're talking some riveting footage here) so if you want to find out who the winner is you'll have to watch the video below (it's only 5 minutes). But if you can't wait you can take look at the results list. Eric also took some great photos which are also available for your viewing pleasure below. I'm already looking forward to next year.

Video (10 min)	Video (5 min)	Photo Gallery by Eric Kahn