Bill will be north of Birmingham, AL on
Friday, March 30th

4:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Collectible Cottage
300 Fieldstown Road
Gardendale AL 35071
205-631-2413

This will be your chance to get the wonderful event piece, Yerba Buena . Be sure to call ahead to reserve yours.
Who is going to one of these events? Sign in, and don't forget to post a report after your event!

Naders and Alan Beckman, this is your event! We will expect a report and pictures. I am confident that Alan will be discussing with Bill the wisdom of HL producing a Sand Island piece in the near future.

Dave

I will definitely be there. Already got my lights boxed up and ready to go get signed. All in all, I will be taking at least 11 along with me. The store is allowing us to have a few extra signed for every piece we've bought from early Feb, including the Yerba Buena piece.

We will try our best to remember to take our camera, and it may take a little while to get any pictures we take up on the site. We don't have a digital camera, so it will involve getting the pictures developed, scanning them, and then posting.

It's going to be a long day. I work midnight to 8am. Will get home and try to get a few hours sleep before getting up and driving up to the store. Will try getting there a little early, but not sure how that will do. The owners have said they will be closing the store from 2-4pm, so that the staff can meet Bill, and so he can sign some of their pieces. Once the doors open at 4, I will be there ready to go. Can't wait.

This event was very enjoyable, and it was my first time meeting Bill. He was very friendly and knowledgeable about many of the lighthouses and such that he signed. It was also nice to see so many other collectors that love and adore Harbour Lights.

My wife and I were able to get 12 of our original pieces signed. We dipped into our checkbook while we were up there, and purchased Yerba Buena, the Point Allerton Life Station, the Sankaty Head piece, Middle Bay Alabama, and a Beakoning Beacons piece (all of which were joyfully signed by Bill). They also had a raffle at the end of the signing. My wife walked away with a Faulkners Point Lighthouse, and I won a Portland Head Maine picture.

Bill was very friendly and wanted to know how my wife and I got started with Harbour Lights. We told him about how we discovered them on our honeymoon in Florida, he listened intently and gave us all of his attention.

My wife took a few pictures of me with Bill, and we were able to get one with the three of us. We also got a few pictures of the staff at the Collectible Cottage, and of Bill signing other people's collectibles. I hope to have some pictures up here soon for you all to see (hopefully within a week or two).

Bill was discussing how well the collectors out there had accepted the Fresnel Lens pieces. He also said that there are two more of them currently in the works, and will be released soon. He was also happy that the life saving station was being well received. More of those are also in the works, but he wouldn't give out any info as the what locations were being worked on. He's glad they're doing well, especially after how bad the lightships were received in the past by Harbour Lights collectors.

We were also suprised when Bill said he doesn't keep up with the Harbour Lights Website, or with the forums all that much. He did say he owns a computer, but doesn't spend much time on it.

Finally, we asked him about the seahorses, just to see what he'd say. His response, with a grin on his face, was "I don't know anything about seahorses. We make lighthouses, not seahorses."

All in all this was a very enjoyable experience. I hope to be able to meet Bill again in the future.

[This message has been edited by Naders (edited 03-31-2001).]