I decided to start a new thread since the earlier thread was who's going... I will add images to this thread tonight when I get back to the hotel room.

Sue and I ran into Dave at the Indianapolis International Airport yesterday morning, no we didn't hurt him when we ran into him. Dave was flying Delta and we were flying American so we parted ways after about an hour of chatting...

We met Betty and John O'Brien for supper when we arrived at the hotel in West Palm Beach last night.

Our not so direct flight took us through St Louis (Advantage miles). We were delayed on the runway before take off for about a 1/2 hour because of the weather conditions in St Louis and when we did get airborne the plane zigged zagged it's way to St Louis taking another extra 1/2 to get there, which was OK since we had a 2 1/2 layover originally scheduled before heading to Ft Lauderdale Airport.. Now to the point of my story... when we were ready to take off from St Louis we were delayed again. The doors were closed and we were about to pull away when the pilot came over the intercom to explain a major problem had occurred. I had noticed all of the attendants all scurrying around and asking, "are there any up in your area?” "No, how about your area?" The pilot then explained that due to an oversight there was no paper for the Lavatories and there would be a short delay while some was loaded on board...

It was a TP Delay!!

The flight down to Ft Lauderdale was smooth from that point on!!

No job is complete until the paperwork is done!

Bob

Smooth? Or was it quilted?

Some of the flora outside the event center....



Hoosier Lighthousing Club presents Bill with a Club shirt....



The Pixie and RIP assisted Bill at the signing table all through the event...


RIP taking Bill's picture with collector's camera..



Guardians of the Gold... some of the first Guardians of the Night in the USA were given away to collectors..



The crowd was smaller than expected (around 130 est.) but it was a lively crowd and the sandwiches hit the spot...



Everybody there got the chance to mix the vouchers before the drawing started...
This just happens to be Debbie from the newly formed Buckeye Beacons Club from Ohio... (email me if I mispelled her name please)


Bill and Nancy announcing the name of the first winner.... Nancy picked the winning vouchers out of the huge trash bag in the barrel and Bill read them...
Nice shirt, Bill!



Pictured with Nancy and Bill are the Gold Fort Tompkins Winners..
Denise McGinnis.. Palmetto, FL, R.I. Puls Jr, Lutz.. FL, Vince Repaci, Alfers FL
Not Present Winners.. Antoinette Ranich, Flemington NJ & Aisling Cullinane, Maple Shade, NJ



After the Regional was over the HoosierLighthousing and Tampa Bay club members all went to the Royal Palm Ale Pub and had dinner and swapped more lighthousing stories.. Carolyn shown here ordering for Roy...


[img]http://www.lighthousekeepers.com/uploads/files/wackopaul@bvimpact.com/bill_shirt.jpg[/img]
Of course Bill was there to keep an eye on the two clubs and apparently take some pictures....

Thanks Paul, it was almost like being there, the pictures are awesome!!!

Thanks for the great pictures Paul! I wanted to be there but at least the report made it seem like I was there with all of you.

Was great to see your pics Paul...great job as always. Sure were many good friends of mine there..glad you all had such a good time. Looking forward to one I can attend next year.
Ruthie

Thanks for posting the pics Paul. It was nice to meet you there.

Stephanie

You notice that Rip is wearing his Wacko Name Tag in the winner's picture. You will also note that all the Hoosier Lighthousing Club members and JJ were also wearing theirs. (Paul even remembered his badge!) However, I don't remember seeing the Pixie wearing hers. . . . .

Some of the newer forum members thought we were kidding about wacko's love of Krispy Kremes. Well, it seems that our hotel was just down the block from a KK, so we had to take some with us. Needless to say, they all disappeared during the event and I know I didn't have one (at least not one of the ones we took to the regional event).

Dave

For all of you that I met - It was great meeting you. I had a great time and was thrilled to have met a bunch of you that I exchange posts with. I didn't get pictures of everyone there, but here are a few pictures that I enjoyed taking.

Jim Johnson acting silly. . . (I bet it wasn't too hard for him. :p )



Picture of our table for the Cedar Keys/Seahorse Key Lighthouse. Left to Right - Dianne (my friend from work), me, and Shortcake.



And my very favorite picture. . .



I think the best part about the whole event was Bill Younger. He was AMAZING!!! He is very passionate about lighthouses and has a great sense of humor to boot. He kept us laughing and entertained. Though this was my first Harbour Lights Event, I have to say it was WONDERFUL!

Thank you to each of you that were there and that stopped to chat with me for a while. I look forward to seeing you again in my travels. Thank you for the Krispy Kreme - it was, well. . . a donut. Sweet and Sticky!

A special Thank you to Dave H for the Alcatrez Postcard. I love it and look forward to seeing it in person. Thanks!

Looks like everyone had a great time at the Regional. Sure is good to see all those WACKO BADGES in the pictures and the happy smiling faces, even if Jim was acting silly. Enjoyed the pictures and wished that I could have been there.

Bert

A Note from Desire:
I just wanted to take a moment and thank everyone who made me feel welcome as the newest Member here at the Harbour Lights office.
It was great meeting you and I can't wait for the next event!

Welcome Desire.

It's a great group of people. I would think that making people feel welcomed is what this forum and I'm sure the Regionals are all about. Hope to hear from you more often. Nice to see someone from the OFFICE on the forums.

Bert

Bill was actually at dinner to share Carolyn's salad.....



Dave

This is Little Red with the Lighthouse pixie in the background.

Welcome Desire! It was great meeting you at the event - it's always nice to meet someone around my age that is "into" lighthouses. It was great talking to you and I hope we will be receiving more posts from you. I hope you enjoyed the event as much as the rest of us did. We will see you at the next event. Take care!

Hey Jim, Dave, and other fellow Wackos. I was wondering if you guys were able to make it to Cape Florida? Sunday started out gloomy and wet, but by the time my small group made it to Jupiter it was clearing up. By the time we made it to Ponce Inlet the sky was a clear blue and only the cold wind was a problem.

I hope ya'll made it to the Lighthouse and were able to climb the tower - it is beautiful and well worth the traffic to get to it.

Hopefully, there will be some pictures coming!

Bert

Yes, BonnieJean, we did get some lighthousing done.

Dave

Did Digger do a painting of the winter piece? If so, is there a picture of it out there? How much did it sell for?

Inquiring minds want to know!

No painting, Randy...

Randy,

Do you want one to go with the summer one.

Actually lack of interest and a 5 minute auction at the summer regional told me that the market for any more Ft Thomkins paintings had truly dried up. And I was really looking forward to that Halloween one!

That's the idea Digger! So, there was no painting for the fall version either?

I guess the summer one I got is that much more rare!

I'm still waiting for SPLIT ROCK!