POSTING #112

Loading

Pat's Bingo Moment

I was working in my basement study when I heard my wife, Pat, shouting and shouting.

Racing upstairs (now that's a lie---at my age I don't race anywhere---let's just say I 'hurried'!) I found Pat sitting in an easy chair with her iPad on her lap shouting "Bingo, bingo, bingo!"

No, she hadn't found a new iPad app that lets one play bingo. (I have since discovered that there actually is a bingo app!)

She had been using Google to research a drop leaf table she had found in the attic of our  local museum, the Niagara Historical Museum. The table was off in a corner, with a rope around the middle holding its leaves together.

Pat, a volunteer at the museum, had been asked by the new curator to use the experience she had gained in years of buying and selling antiques to review the collection of tables, chairs and other pieces of furniture to see whether the description in the museum's database of artifacts was accurate and complete.

A couple of weeks after starting her task, Pat came across the drop leaf table with the rope around its middle. It had elegant proportions, with long, slender legs and neat brass feet. It was obviously very old and very beautifully made.

With the help of other volunteers, Pat was able to get a quick look at the underside and found two markings stamped into the wood. Markings on antiques are, of course, like pure gold as one tries to identify their maker and age.

The following Monday I went with Pat to help decipher the two stamped impressions using a strong light and a good magnifying glass (see Sherlock work!). We untied the rope and found that only minor repairs would be needed. The impressions were quite distinct, but unfortunately the "JME" and "J.Canabar" didn't mean anything to us.

We took photographs of the markings, tied the table back up and went home.

Pat then used Google to try to find the meanings of the markings.

After a number of unsuccessful tries she had her 'bingo moment', which brought me hurrying from my basement lair.

The table was made by Joseph Gengenbach between 1766 and 1797. He was a member of the JMF, the most highly acclaimed guild of cabinet makers in France at that time.

The curator is delighted as the copy of the article from a local weekly paper shows (you may have to click on the image to be able to read the article).

The table is in the big leagues of antique furniture. A slightly smaller Gengenbach table was sold at a Christie's auction in London on December 9, 2010 for $19,763.

Since the article appeared, a local woman has provided some clues about how the table may have ended up in Niagara-on-the-Lake and in our museum. The curator is exploring these tips.

Meanwhile steps are being taken to have the table restored---it is not a big job but it will require an expert with special training. The table will then be moved from its corner in the attic to a place of prominence in the public display area.

The Breakfast Club

The municipality of Niagara-on-the-Lake---of which Virgil is a component---is overrun with volunteers.

You try to have lunch with someone only to find that they are busy that day doing some volunteer work with the Shaw Festival Guild,  the Friends of  Fort George, the Friends of Laura Secord or with one of the dozens of other voluntary organizations in the area.

The supply of retired persons willing to work for nothing is so great that one has to pay an annual fee to work for certain organizations!

As an aside, I should say that younger members of the community sometimes joke about the growing number of retired people, and talk about the town becoming 'God's Waiting Room'. (I want to assure you that there's a lot of activity in this waiting room!)

In contrast to all this volunteering, and to all these good works, there is the Breakfast Club.

I first heard about the Breakfast Club after giving a talk on my Russian experiences as part of a lecture series put on by our library. A woman who had been in the audience asked if I would be prepared to talk about Russia to the Breakfast Club.

When I asked for more details on the Club, she said it was hard to describe. It would be better if Pat and I went to a meeting of the Club as its guests.

At 8 AM on the second Tuesday of the following month, Pat and I entered a bright, cheerful room at the Riverbend Inn. There were about 40 people, mostly men and mostly retired, but with a significant sprinkling of younger people and women.

Our host, the woman at the library talk, introduced us to the members and we chatted until the call came that the buffet breakfast was ready. It was a hearty breakfast with pancakes and syrup, ham and eggs, sausages, toast, fruit and excellent coffee.

After people had finished their breakfasts, Bob Waugh---one of the founders of the Club, a retired executive from GM, and 91 or 92 years young---welcomed the guests and explained a little about the Club.

With the wit and timing of a stand-up comic, he explained that the Club is best described by what it isn't.

It has no constitution, no board of directors, no Annual General Meetings, no secretary, no minutes, no membership applications, no dues, no bank account, and no fund-raising projects.

Bob looked down at his Blackberry to see if he had forgotten anything.

Oh, he added, breakfast is free for guests but $13 for members. Guests are welcome to attend future meetings but they will have to pay for their own breakfast. There is an honour system and members put their money in baskets on each table.

Bob added that if guests wished, they could give their email address to one of the members who had volunteered to send out meeting notices each month.

A member then introduced the speaker, who talked for about 20 minutes. There was a question and answer session with pointed, intelligent questions.

The meeting was over by 9 AM.

A few months later, I gave my talk on Russia, and we now go regularly to the monthly meetings. Some of the speakers are members while others are from outside the Club.

Recent topics have included a member's talk on a trip to Kenya, the ultra-modern cancer clinic that will be part of the new St. Catharines General Hospital, the future of the public library in the digital age, the upcoming program for the Shaw Festival presented by a member of its repertory company, the future of local independently-owned pharmacies, and hints on coin collecting.

We like the Club very much.

In chatting with a friend I mentioned a talk I had listened to at the Club. He hadn't heard of the Club and asked me to explain about it. I tried to remember all the points that Bob Waugh had made about what it isn't.

"But", my friend butted in, "what does the Club DO?'

I explained that the Club doesn't 'do' anything, that the members are very active in the community but the Club's monthly meetings are just fun.

He looked at me as though I was talking nonsense.

I would recommend the model to anyone who is feeling a bit over-organized.

But don't contact the club for any plans or documents on how to set up a Breakfast Club.

There aren't any!

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

See you on May 1st for Posting #113 with more stories from our family’s universe! If you have comments or suggestions, please leave a comment at the bottom of this posting,  or email me at johnpathunter@gmail.com.