Model Musings: Sproo-Doo 13 by Steve Wilson

Another one has been put away.  CASM has successfully completed 13 straight years of hosting a model contest. Oh, I know for a lot of IPMS Chapters out there we are still the new kids on the block. Some clubs have been around since the very beginning of IPMS, and they have sponsored and hosted at least one show nearly every year of their existence. We are working on it.

This year 36 contestants entered 138 models in the competition. It was not quite up to our best year, but it was a good show with a decent turnout.  Sproo-Doo drew modelers from Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Missouri.  On the vendors side there were seven vendors including Jane’s Trains from Greenville, Texas and John’s Models from the Pensacola area. Modelers had a choice of tools, kits, aftermarket items, resin and metal figures, adhesives and paints.

This year’s officers, and especially the show committee and coordinator, all deserve our thanks and congratulations for their efforts.

Our first show was in 2001 at HobbyTown USA, and it was not Sproo-Doo at that time, that change would come a few years later. There were no vendors, no raffles or door prizes, no silent auctions and no trophies, just ribbons, but it was a start. The membership of CASM totaled around seven or eight people at the time, and Roger Ellenburg was the club’s sole supporter and contributor for the show.

Through the years the show has grown, the venue has changed several times, the dates for the show went from Spring to Fall, but one thing has stayed constant – Roger’s contributions and support of the club.  He has provided us with our meeting home since the club’s inception, with the exception of a very short period when we met at the Napa Valley Branch Library and then out at the now defunct Aerospace Education Center.  Roger has always been there when we needed his help and support.  He has funded the gas for a few trips to out of town shows, he always has a vendor’s table at the shows, he provides donuts at the club meetings every month and now he gives us a place to bring our hobby out of the closet and into the public eye by building our models at his shop. Roger has been a supporter that has gone well beyond the boundaries of what most of us have seen in the past.

This is my effort to say, “Thank You,” to CASM’s biggest supporter and the man that has been there for us since day one. Thanks Roger, for all you have done and continue to do for CASM.