Are we going to do/try this again...?

I'm ready!

I'm ready!

me 4!

I would be interested. I enjoyed the Robin. Just tell me how this one works.

Envelope..did someone mean to say Robin??? I'm in again!

I have some new cards ready.

I want to be in also. The robin was fun.
I just ordered a bunch of postcards on the inter-
net. You would think you could buy lots of them in Florida. I went to many stores down here and all they have is the one with the West Coast of Florida,

This exchange is different from the Robin. In these exchanges you mail the same pc to everyone that is a participant. Plus we always include Bill Younger and Bodie Lighthouse's John Gaskill (his father was a keeper at Bodie)to the mailings.

Envelope means you put the pc in an envelope for mailing and don't write on it so the pc arrives postally unused. Many people include additional information about the light in this exchange, pictures they took of the light when they visited, a writeup about the history of the light, things like that.

No envelope means you address and mail the pc directly to all the participants, i.e. the pc is postally used.

Both methods are great ways to add alot of different pcs to your collection at one time. And in the case of the Envelope an opportunity to learn the history of the light as well. I enjoy these exchanges, I just have to be sure I have 20 - 30 pcs of the same light, which is no small feat as I usually only do one lighthouse trip a year and must remember to try and buy enough of several different pcs of different lights and save them for the exchanges.

Kikigi, I'm sending you a separate email to find out about buying cards via the Internet. I've haven't had any luck via that route.

Mel,
So thank you for explaining the difference in the exchanges...I wasn't familiar with this type. But let me ask...how many people are usually in a group of this kind? I have not bought 10 of the same card...usually 4 or 5 is what I have been doing up to this point for the Robin's.

I would have to know how many cards to have ready before I could commit to this kind of exchange.

I like the idea...I would prefer the envelope type...so the cards could be re-used if you wanted to send them out later down the road.

Bob, at one point there were 20 - 25 people participating in the two exchanges twice a year. The past several have seen numbers way day, under 15. This is one of the reasons I have not actively pursued starting one of these exchanges recently. Given the declining participation, one set per year is probably adequate. The exchanges normally last 3-4 months, allowing participants plenty of time to honor their obligation.

While there have been repeats of cards over the years, I do have to say that this has not happened all that often. Most people do prefer to send out the same card to all the other participants, but this is not a requirement. (But, it can be a real challenge to remember what card you sent to what person if you use a variety of cards.)

I do not have to start the exchanges. If there is someone who wants to initiate an exchange and is willing to watch over it they are more than welcome to do so. Biggest part of that involves insuring you have everyone's address and get it distributed to all the participants and then keeping track of who has sent their cards and who needs to be reminded as the deadline approaches.

Hi Melody,

I didn't get your e-mail about postcards. As Dave knows, I have been having trouble with it.
I think it is O.K. now. I am going to send you an e-mail with the info. Please let me kow if you get it.

Got your email Kay, and many thanks! Got my cards ordered for the envelope/no envelope and then some additional to use for several more rounds of the Robin! Good pc source for us lighthouseless folks.

Kay,

I got your email too. I also ordered some postcards so I'll be ready for the next exchange.

Which one is this exchange going to be? With the envelope or without the envelope?

Kay, someone has to step up and agree to oversee the exchange before they can determine whether it will be in or out of envelope.

O.K., Thanks, Dave.

I've had told Dave that I would be willing to manage the envelope/no envelope exchanges provided there is enough interest.

Two new threads will be started for folks to post what type they would prefer, and just how much interest there is. We will need at least 10 - 12 players for each type to make that exchange type fun and interesting.