The Pacific Northwest Tool Collectors

proudly present the 12^th biennial

Best in the West

Tool Extravaganza

August 7-10, 2008

Little Creek Casino-Resort

91 West Highway 108

Shelton, Washington 98584

1-800-667-7711 or 360-427-7711

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Meeting Objectives: The members of PNTC invite all tool collectors and students of the trades and crafts to join us for four special days of tool camaraderie. Make new friendships and renew existing ones. Share knowledge about early tools and trades. Buy, sell, trade and display tools. We will document information and events via a CD. And most of all, come to Shelton to enjoy the good fellowship and have fun.

Highlights:

Thursday - Field trip to view NW virgin old growth forest and past logging practices. A large Douglas Fir will be felled using early tools and techniques. Logging talk and room sales in the evening.

Friday – Tailgating all morning; set up tool displays in afternoon. Enjoy a Buffet dinner and viewing of an extensive and unparalleled display of some of the Best in the West’s antique tools. Auction of collectible tools caps off the evening.

Saturday - Sale and trade tables open all day. Seminars, demonstrations and raffles occur at intervals. A banquet is followed by the presentation of the PNTC 2008 favor, display competition awards, and a major auction of antique tools.

Sunday - Tour of PNTC member collections in the area.

Vacation Planning: Attendees to the Best in the West (BITW) may want to consider planning family vacations in and around this area. Check this link for suggestions on vacation destinations in the area. The PAST tool collectors will host their summer meeting in Sonoma, California the weekend following the Best in the West – check www.pasttools.org.

Meeting Facility : The Little Creek Casino-Resort (LCCR) in Shelton, WA, is located about 2 hours South of Seattle’s Sea-Tac Airport and offers full-service modern facilities to include free wireless internet, heated indoor pool, gym, state of the art business center and is pet friendly. The rustic architecture and displays of Indian Art, make for a most interesting location. The LCCR has a space for RVs, but without hookups. There is an unconfirmed (as of this date) report that there is a State facility in or near Shelton that can handle RVs and has hookup facilities. An enormous Event Center will be used for the majority of our activities. The Squaxin Tribal Museum is nearby. Take I-5 to Olympia; Hywy 101 to Hywy 108. See LCCR signs on Left. BITW Rate is $77 for standard room and $139 for spa (before taxes) on Fri and Sat. Std rooms are $59 (before tax) on non-weekend days. When calling specify that you want the rate for the PNTC Best in the West show. Reservations can be called in toll-free at 1-800-667-7711 or direct at 1-360-427-7711. Learn more about the facility at www.Little-Creek-Casino.com.

Registration - Neither our liability insurance nor our contract with Little Creek Casino-Resort provide for us to hold an event open to the public. All attendees must be registered and members of a recognized tool club. Accordingly, we must require that all attendees wear BITW registration badges at all times while involved in meeting activities including tailgating. This also provides a measure of security in that anyone can identify a non-registered person. You will encounter individuals that are providing security by limiting entry to meeting areas to only those people wearing a BITW badge (thus showing that they are known and registered). Please respect their requests as they will be following our directions and working in your best interests. Badges will be in your registration envelope available Thursday at 12 & 6 PM and Friday morning.

Meeting Documentation via Photo CD - With a meeting of this scope, there will be numerous activities and displays that are truly memorable and deserve to be documented. Too much information and important memories are lost after the show closes. Sandor Nagyszalanczy, author and photographer of The Art of Fine Tools & Tools - Rare and Ingenious will take professional quality digital photos throughout the show to record the visual images and retain the information and the experience. Mark the box on the registration form if you want to purchase the CD-ROM (with hundreds of images viewable on either a Mac or PC computer) and have it mailed to you after the meeting.

Meeting Themes – This year the Best in the West show will feature two themes:

Northwest Logging Practices and Tools - The Thursday tour and evening seminar will provide an excellent background for the subject. Len Hunter will present on Saturday a massive museum-quality display of the tools used in NW forestry.

Patent Planes - Cliff Sapienza has one of the most comprehensive collections of Patent Planes on the West Coast and will present a most impressive display on Saturday. Ken Bassett will display patent plane ephemera.

Display Competition - There is a great educational benefit for collectors to have the opportunity to examine the displays and written materials that attendees set up. In many cases, the displayer will be more informed on their subjects than the rest of us. Given the considerable effort that even a small display entails, all displayers will receive recognition. Prizes will be awarded at the Banquet to winners in the following categories:

Best general display of tools – large display
Best general display of tools – small display
Best display of a specific trade or craft - large display
Best display of a specific trade or craft - small display
Best display of a specific type of tool - large display
Best display of a specific type of tool - small display
Best display of Stanley tools – large display
Best display of Stanley tools – small display
Best display of Non-Stanley tools – single maker – large display
Best display of Non-Stanley tools – single maker – small display
Best display of Most Unusual tool(s)
Best display of tool(s) of your own construction
Best display of tool restoration
Judges Choice Award

Impartial judges will be selected to judge displays using the following guidelines – up to 10 points will be awarded for a display for each of the following seven categories:

Labeling
Supporting materials
Quality of displayed items
Rarity of displayed items
Completeness
Attractiveness/charisma
Creativity/uniquenes.

Up to 30 points will be awarded for the Educational value of the display. Thus, a display of very valuable tools will not necessarily beat less-expensive tools. The judges reserve the right to add/alter display categories as deemed appropriate. Winners of each display category will receive notable awards. Formal judging will not be completed until Saturday PM, so folks unable to set up displays until Sat will be fully eligible for the competition. Please be certain to have your name shown with the display. We welcome displays by the women in our crowd that are interested in doing such. The Photo CD of the BITW meeting (available for purchase on your registration form) will feature a complete collection of shots of the tool displays.

Raffles -Periodic raffles will be held to raise additional funds to cover expenses. A library of tool collecting references will be raffled. Your tool donations will be greatly appreciated.

Seminars &Demonstrations- Scheduled talks and demonstrations will be posted; additionally announcements will be made to alert you to them.

Tool Auctions - Will be held both Friday and Saturday evenings. Friday’s auction will be short and include new, non-antique tools such as past PNTC favors, and tools by Lie-Nielson, Bridge City, AMT, Leichtung, Wood River, Chris Laarman, Paul Hamler and Woodsmith. Saturday’s auction will be after the Banquet and have a wide variety of antique tools from the collection of Frank Manville, as well as tools entered by meeting attendees – limit three tools per person, with an anticipated value of at least $50 each. No reserves. Auction committee can reject submissions. Use of bidder numbers from your registration envelope is required. Ken Bassett has the lead for auction planning and coordination. Jack Birky is our Auctioneer. The PNTC web site will include photos to preview early-submitted tools for the auction

PNTC 2008 Favor - Continuing our long-time tradition of providing a favor to BITW attendees, and following the precedent set in 2000, a team of volunteer PNTC craftsmen began the design of a working classic tool in early 2007. The subject-tool of the favor is kept secret until the Sat banquet. As the cost of materials and casting have skyrocketed, we must charge $50 for each favor. Purchase is optional. The spiritual leader of our volunteer crafters has become seriously ill, and our Rhode Island casting firm has had production problems . . . so we are unsure how many favors will actually be completed. We offer one favor only per full-registrant for Saturday and they must have paid the PNTC dues of $15 (or be the spouse or significant-other of a paid PNTC member) – sold on a first-come first-served basis, as determined by date of receipt of paid registration by Steve Dice. You must be present Saturday to receive the favor. Sorry for the bureaucratic approach.

Session I - Thursday

Northwest Logging Practices & Tools: As one of our two main themes for the show, we will have a bus tour of forest lands near Shelton to view some very impressive old growth virgin Douglas Fir stands as well as past forest cutting practices. All attendees must ride the bus as private vehicles are not permitted on the Tour. Bus is air-conditioned and has a rest room. Space for 50 is available on a first-come first-served basis determined by the date of receipt of paid registration by Steve Dice. If interest exceeds that number, we will try to add additional buses. Len Hunter will lead all tour activities.

Noon – Bus will leave from the Resort and return between 5 and 6 PM. Box lunches are available at the Resort, or eat before you leave. Wear walking shoes and bring a jacket. First stop will demonstrate felling a large Douglas-Fir using hand axes, wedges, spring-boards and misery whips. Our very own PNTC crack timber beasts will do the felling.

Evening – Room sales as available – dealer sale rooms will be posted in the Lobby.

Dinner – On your own

6 – 7 PM- Registration envelopes available in the Lobby

7:30 PM- Seminar on NW Forest Logging Practices by Max Schmidt, retired VP of Simpson Timber Co. titled Lies, Logs and Loggers.

Session II – Friday

Dawn - The tailgaters will be out before it’s light out, so bring your flashlights. A large area between the main building and the Event Center will be reserved for sellers to set up. In case of rain, we will move under the covered walkways around the Center. Sellers must be registered for Friday’s activities. Sales will continue as long as folks care to transact business.

Dawn Plus - Registration envelopes available

Lunch - On your own

1-4 PM- Attendees set up displays in the Event Center at assigned tables (pls bring table covers)

2-4 PM - Saturday sellers may move boxes into the Event Center at assigned tables; No setup or sales until Saturday AM - (pls bring table covers)

5 - Cash bar opens in Event Center

5:30 – Lines open for Buffet Dinner

6:30 - Welcoming comments, raffle and viewing of displays

8:30 - Auction of Non-Antique tools

10:30 - Event Center closes – Tribal Security takes over and locks down area

Session III - Saturday

8:30 - Event Center opens to sellers and buyers alike and sales are permitted during set-up. West-Coast decorum is expected to minimize acrimony, debates and tug-of-wars.

Raffles are held periodically throughout the day

11 AM- Seminar

Lunch - On your own

1 PM - Preview opens for evening tool auction; meeting attendees can add/register tools now

2 PM - Seminar

4 PM - Pack-up Time – displays and sale materials will be moved out of the Event Center

5 PM - Cash Bar opens

5:30- Lines for Banquet Buffet open

6:30- Presentation of Display awards and PNTC Favor

8:30 - Antique Tool Auction

Session IV - Sunday

Open Houses – registered attendees are invited to visit any or all of the open houses of PNTC members identified in your registration envelope. Maps and timing of home-availability will be provided.

Deadlines :

Room reservations – make them now – we expect a crowd
First-come, first-served availability of Thurs bus tour and PNTC 2008 Favors – based on date of receipt of your paid registration by Steve Dice
17 July - Hold of rooms for BITW by Little Creek Casino-Resort expires.
1 August - Deadline for receipt of BITW Registration forms - late fee of $10 thereafter.