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Dear Friends:
Oh! The gracious hospitality of Iowa! Iowans are among the warmest, friendliest people in the world, and they made my visit to Cedar Rapids, Kalona, and Riverside a pure joy. By the way, Iowa is pie country, and their strawberry-rhubarb pie is out-of-this-world! Thank you! Thank you!
When I arrived in Cedar Rapids Thursday afternoon for my Collectors’ Convention at the Riverside Casino & Golf Resort, I was picked up by Pat Hill and Judy Toy of Antique Wicker & Gifts. They showed me some of the sights in and around Cedar Rapids, and I had a delightful visit at the gallery. It has a lovely tea room, and the furniture in the gallery complements my paintings perfectly. Next, we went to Pat’s house for dinner with family and friends, and what a fun bunch of people! It snowed while we were at Pat’s house, and it was so beautiful coming down. It covered the roof tops and the lawns but not the roads, so we had a safe drive to Riverside afterward. Thank you, Pat, for your warm hospitality!
Friday morning was our bus tour of Kalona, Iowa. When our bus arrived in the town, we were greeted by members of the Moss Country Friends Chapter of the P. Buckley Moss Society. They had set up coffee and breakfast for us in Kalona’s community hall, and we all received goodie bags from town merchants. We were divided into groups, and different members took us off in different directions. We toured downtown Kalona, including two fascinating quilt museums and several antique and fabric shops. I’m sure you can appreciate what a terrible temptation that was to me! We also saw Kalona’s Historical Village and had lunch at the Tuscan Moon, which was wonderful. After lunch I returned to Riverside to get ready (and take a nap) for the opening of the Convention later that afternoon; and, the rest of the tour group went to see the Kalona Cheese House, which supplies cheese for Kraft.
Members of the Moss Country Friends Chapter gave our bus tour group a warm welcome in Kalona’s community hall.
John & Joanne Roetlin, owners of the Kalona Cheese House, purchased the original watercolor of Along the Country Road.
Showing in a gambling casino was a little different, but I must say that the staff and the security were wonderful. I don’t know how we’ve ever survived without Troy Reincke, the casino's Banquet Manager. I’d love to steal him for all our conventions. Our rooms and convention area were very comfortable. Everyone, from my staff to the resort staff to the collectors, was upbeat and happy. The show was a lot of fun.
It was a tie for first place in Saturday’s Costume Parade. Brenda Hildebrand won for her portrayal of Leslie, and Frank Neff won for his portrayal of Army Boy.
Look at what an excellent job these girls did with their portrayal of Our Carrying Baskets!
Everyone looked so festive and patriotic dressed in their red, white, and blue clothes for the “Proud to be an American” Dinner Dance and Auction. We enjoyed a delicious buffet, music, and dancing. The Moss Country Friends Chapter, in addition to organizing the bus tour of Kalona, provided “Freedom Bags” containing gift items and P. Buckley Moss gift certificates. Proceeds from the sale of the “Freedom Bags” raised $2,000.00 for the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education.
Moss Country Friends also sponsored a raffle of a framed, remarqued Let’s Pledge Allegiance, that was donated by the P. Buckley Moss Society office. The framing was donated by The Village Shoppe in Kalona. The raffle raised almost $800.00 for the University of Iowa Children’s Hospital. Additionally, the Chapter collected new bath towels during the Convention to be donated to Four Oaks, one of the largest private, non-profit child welfare justice organizations in Iowa. Four Oaks provides family-based programs which help individuals resolve family issues and rebuild or maintain relationships. The collected towels will be used in Four Oaks’ residential treatment programs.
Look at all the towels! The Moss Country Friends Chapter collected them during the Convention to be donated to Four Oaks’ residential treatment programs.
I wish to give a huge thanks to Moss Country Friends and Doris Greiner of The Village Shoppe for their generosity and all their hard work in making the Convention so much fun and so successful.
Bidding during the auction was lively and good-natured and raised over $3,000.00 for the Foundation and the P. Buckley Moss Endowed Scholarship.
Laura DeRamus (left) of Canada Goose Gallery in Waynesville, OH, was the high bidder for the quilted bunny wall hanging that was quilted by Pearl Yoder (right). Laura also won the red, white, and blue star decorated with my black cats. We’ll have another quilted wall hanging, using one of my painted fabric squares for the centerpiece; another star; and a pair of hand-decorated earrings up for auction at our next Collectors’ Convention which will be held September 12-13 at The Hotel Roanoke, Roanoke, VA.
Thank you, Iowa, for a lovely weekend and for supporting children’s charities!
Love,
Pat
John and Wendy Higgins and their eight children, a Mennonite family from Ephrata, PA, visited the P. Buckley Moss Museum this past weekend. The oldest son played my mother’s piano, and I can imagine her smiling from Heaven.
The Moss
Portfolio
74 Poplar Grove Lane
Mathews, VA 23109
(800) 430-1320
©P. Buckley Moss 2005