The Ninth Annual Northern California Pipe & Cigar Show took place in Merced this past Saturday (11-4-06) at the Bear Creek Grange Hall. A debt of gratitude is owed at the outset to Gary Malmberg, who, along with Mike Edborg, has been responsible for shows one through eight, which took place in Sacramento. The name was changed slightly to embrace the cigar enthusiasts, but was still predominantly a pipe show. However, without Gary’s database of vendors and contacts, we would have been dead in the water.
 
At ten A.M. as the show opened, attendees were given (along with free admission) a raffle ticket and a gift pack of four tobaccos (courtesy of Altadis). Coffee was available in the downstairs portion of the venue, which also served as the site for lunch (sub sandwiches and drinks, available for a nominal fee).

Since this show is about a tenth the size of the Chicago event, I can go ahead and list all the vendors who participated: Charles Scholl, Jim Ayers, Reid Ewing (representing Smokers Forum), Tim Dowell, Marty Pulvers, Mike Edborg, Rick Hopkins (Ye Olde Pipe and Tobacco Shoppe of Phoenix), Brian Burk, Al Grosskopf, Joel Shapiro, Doug Shaw (The Sanctuary of San Luis Obispo), Les Sechler, Greg Pease, Tobacco Road (of Sacramento), John Tolle (NASPC), Mark Lindner, Mike & Janet Siegel (The Sierra Smoke Shop of Merced), The Carmel Pipe Shop, and Cigars, Ltd. of Fresno. Vendors who had signed up, but were unable to attend: Tom Pfaeffle and Rich Curll. Jack Eisenhower, a maker of pipe racks from Pennsylvania, arrived at the venue the day before the show, but learned that his wife’s sister had died suddenly that same afternoon, so he had to leave immediately. Our sympathies are with him.

We were blessed with great, balmy weather and good attendance. Many new and estate pipes could be found for sale or for trade. Also a goodly amount of new and vintage tobacco and cigars were scattered throughout. I saw Balkan Sobranie, Cope’s Escudo Deluxe and Bengal Slices to name only three. Many beautiful vintage estate pipes were in evidence throughout the hall. Just one example would be the pair of matched Barling’s Make pre-trans EXEXELs that Les Sechler had on display in a dedicated carrying case. These pipes were unsmoked! Greg Pease had a sample of his soon to be released English blend, “Westminster” for folks to try. Judging by the response of those who snagged a bowl full, it’ll be an instant hit.

CLICK HERE to see more pictures of the show. 

Two raffles held during the day produced a number of nice prizes, including tobacco, CDs, cigars, pipes (Brebbia, Charatan and Vipratti!), NASPC newsletter subscriptions and…… more tobacco. The prizes were donated by some of the vendors and by distributors such as Monjure and Altadis. Members of the Fresno Pipe Club in attendance were of tremendous help throughout the day, doing everything from set-up and take-down to parking control and clean-up. Club president Dennis Muster got signs made for vendor tables and for directions to the show and also procured the food for the event. Mike & Janet Siegel, as the host vendors, did the major work of securing the hall, tables and prizes.They also made sure that there were ashtrays, matches and pipe cleaners available to all attendees; no mean feat.
By popular demand during the day, the show closing time was extended from four P.M. to five P.M. A fair number of vendors and attendees gathered afterward at Fernando’s Bistro for a great dinner and even greater socialization.
With this event under our belts, we are very hopeful of having an even more successful show next year. You kinda know that things went okay when you just finish with one show and immediately look forward to the next.

 

See the donated items below.