Midwest Model Mania: Show Day!

Show day dawned cool and clear - fifty-five degrees! (That would change as the day progressed. The heat kicked in fast as the sun rose.)

The show was held at an event center about three miles north of Galesburg. By 7:00 AM entrants were unloading cars and carrying tubs and boxes inside.

Since I'd set the Mercantile up the night before with Sarah's help, unpacking my show string went quickly.

I was ready to go with plenty of time to spare before the 8:00 start of the show.

There was a lot of space in the show hall and so people were not crammed into little spaces with show tubs stacked in walkways. I love shows where you have a little extra room!

Three rings were set up, and I was showing in two of them: OF Plastic Halter, OF Rare Plastics, OF Plastic Collectibility, OF China Halter, and China Collectibility.

In addition to the tables for classes and callbacks, there were tables for silent auction items and raffle items. 

Thanks to Teresa Rogers' generosity, a big box of mini Hagen Renakers (many of them vintage) arrived for door prizes. I won the Baby Caterpillar to go along with the Papa Caterpillar that I already had at home.

The China Gaited class.

The OF Plastic Collectibility Pre 1980 class with my wedgewood Running Mare. (Those glossy black dapple Belgians!!)

OF Plastic Collectibility Tests/OOAKs. (My test run Black Stallion is on the right.)

OF Plastic Hartland Collectibility. My Hartland Hoof Pick Winner (a prize from a contest that Hartland held in the 1990s) on the left, and then the rare ebony woodcut Thoroughbred Mare and Foal that were my sister's. 

Brenda Metcalf Steiner judging China Collectibility Hagen Renakers 5"" and Under. My Head Down circus pony won that class.

China Collectibility Other Manufacturers class - my Cheval did not place and Worth the Wait, my Beswick Appaloosa, took 4th. 

By 4:00 the show was winding down and folks were packing cars. 

Horsiemama's Mercantile had done a good business and I had much more room in the trunk than I'd had on my trip over from Indiana.

I was invited to join Liz Cory, Steff Bodamer, Jamie Rott, and their husbands for dinner and we ended up back at Pz's Place where Sarah and I had eaten the night before. But I didn't mind - we talked and laughed and just enjoyed being able to have a normal live show experience after over a year of quarantine.

The next live show I have on my schedule is my own - Happy Trails, the pony party/live show I hold in my home. It's scheduled for October, but with the Delta variant of the virus spreading, I may need to make some adjustments. 

Something else is looming on the horizon, too - I got a shipping notice from Breyer and my BreyerFest models are scheduled to arrive soon. I am soooo looking forward to seeing them.

Stay 'tooned!