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I agree! It was a great meet. Unity is a teeny-tiny town and Ruth and Pat live in a quaint little farmhouse.
Unless you have been to Saskatchewan, it is hard to describe the vibrant yellow canola crops growing alongside the rich green wheat. The prairie rolls on for miles, and the sky is a changing expanse of blue.
The hospitality and fellowship was second to none. I got to meet both Pat and Ruth's Moms. I got to meet Lotti and Dan and Kelly and Duncan and Warren and Bruce Von Ander. Everyone looks younger than their BB pix! It was great seeing Suelynn and Mur and Marty again too.
I found out that Mur and I share a birthday! And that Pat's mom plays the accordion! I got to ride on a dirt road in the rumble seat of a Model A Ford with my sweetie! I got to eat buffalo and wild boar! I got to help letter Dan's truck! And also a tour of his stuff at the West Edmonton Mall!
The only thing I missed was seeing the Northern Lights. Everyone was so friendly. Thanks again....it was wonderful. Love...Jill
-------------------- That is like a Mr. Potato Head with all the pieces in the wrong place. -Russ McMullin Posts: 8834 | From: Butler, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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You-re not kidding Stevo and Jilly...that was a great time! Pat and Ruth are awesome. Laurie and I thank Pat and Ruth for the hospitality that you, your girls, your family and your community extended to us all. Special thanks to Bruce for his pin striping 101 class, Pat, Roger and Mur for their carving demo and the financial speaker for his informative presentation. Here's a link to some pics from the meet. Unfortunately my camera batteries powered out before I could get many pics of the panels and I lost some pics including the group photo. Lots of folks were snapping pics, so I'm sure you'll get a lot more to see. Here's some pics. Feel free to copy and save any of them. Pics from the Paint the Prairie Meet
It was great to visit many old friends and meet a bunch of new ones. The hospitality was second to none, I felt like I was down home from the minute I got there until it was time to go home!
The artwork and panels produced at the meet were wonderful. And I have the greatest souvenir... GOLD LEAF artwork on the doors and tailgate of my truck. Every time I climb into the red Dodge I'll remember the meet on the prairie!
It was a hands-on lesson for many of us, with Pat leading the way. Jill produced a funky hand done font for the message on the tailgate and the web address on the side. It's so cool!
On top of that I now have another great panel for my new studio too... THANKS JILL!
Thanks all for pitching in on the truck, and THANKS for such a great laid back time!!!
-dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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Glad to here you got back to Edmonton okay. Man that storm here in Edmonton was really something. I heard they had to evacuate West Edmonton Mall. Are your crew okay and did your worksite escape the flood? Apparently we have another, perhaps a more violent one coming...yikes. Pat and Ruth I hope it's not headed your way. Lotti's home safe, sure hope everyone else made it home.
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I'm home safe and sound too. A nice relaxing time for me. I needed that after the intense several weeks I've had here. Kinda nice watching others work for once!(LOL) Another memorable experience with my favorite folks and I'm looking forward to seeing y'all real soon!
-------------------- Happy Signing...... Marty
M.F. (Marty) Happy Signmaker Since 1974 Happy Ad Sign & Design Regina SK, Canada S4N 5K4 306-789-9567 happyad@sasktel.net www.happyad.ca
Get Happy & Get Noticed! Posts: 773 | From: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada | Registered: Jan 1999
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Oh cool, I got my bumper posted on the Internet!!
What a great Meet; THANK YOU, Pat and Ruth!! There is so much to tell, I don't even know where to start. I'm still digesting all the impressions, new faces, tips and tricks.
I'm so pumped, I want to to a hundred things at once...
Sistas of the Brush....you're the best!
Jilly, what can I say. You're such an inspiration to me. It was a pleasure to finally meet you. Sign Chicks Rule! Yeah!
I want to mention more people, but in the meantime.... Thanks, Pete and Marj from Canadian Signcrafters, and Kelly from Precision Board, for giving us all this material to work with. It was truly appreciated!
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I made it home too! We drove through one heck of a thunder/hail storm, but I REALLY needed to get to my own bed!!
It was a great meet with lots of info packed into a few short days. I learned that my striping brushes really DO work, and that sometimes you just gotta paint, no matter who is looking over your shoulder. Pat and Ruth were wonderful hosts, Ruth was always adding more food to the table! I finally got to meet Kelly in person...thanks for the cool shirt!!! Thanks to Jilly and Stevo for the cool panels, I'll hang them proudly in my shop!
The really great thing about meets is getting together with old friends, and making new old friends. You meet the coolest people, and then each meet you attend, you hope they will be there.
Thank you all for the wonderful time.
Suelynn
-------------------- "It is never too late to be what you might have been." -George Eliot
Suelynn Sedor Sedor Signs Carnduff, SK Canada Posts: 2863 | From: Carnduff, SK Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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Thanks Pat and Ruth! What a warm & wonderful time! So great to see everyone from last year and meet some great new people too. Finally meeting Jill and Suelynn in person was wonderful. I echo Lotti's thoughts on thanking One Shot, Canadian Signcrafters, Sign Business Magazine, Coastal Enterprises & Kelly - who have I forgotten Pat? Dan I hear a tornado made you a skylight - now you can get a suntan while you work Good thing you work in concrete - I bet there wasn't much damage to your work.
[ July 12, 2004, 11:54 AM: Message edited by: Kelly Thorson ]
-------------------- “Did you ever stop to think, and forget to start again?” -Winnie the Pooh & A.A. Milne
Kelly Thorson Kel-T-Grafix 801 Main St. Holdfast, SK S0G 2H0 ktg@sasktel.net Posts: 5496 | From: Penzance, Saskatchewan | Registered: May 2002
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Geez.... I must have stretched my stomach at PTP because I seem to be constantly hungry since I got back. A single guy like me doesn't usually have access to that quality and amount of food!(LOL)
That was a great buffet spread and I want to thank those who contributed... especially the roast bison and the wild boar sausages as well as awesome desserts.
In my short post yesterday I forgot to thank Canadian Sign Crafters, 1-Shot, Sign Business Magazine and Precision Board for donating their products for us to 'play' with. Thanks to Bruce for steering me right in the Pinstriping workshop, and to Pat, Roger and Murray for invaluable chisel sharpening and carving tips and techniques. Having Dan Sawatzky spend the whole weekend with us made PTP special. Thank you for the Giggle Ridge passes.
Thank you to Jill for the panel that will find a prominent spot in my house. Thank you to 'Pat's Mother' for the crocheted pot-holder.
And thank you to everyone else who I was able to watch and pick up inspiration from.
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well, at least i get a long distance glimpse of my sis. stevo is holding her for ransom. too bad we are all broke here i pa. trying to gather the money..... no donations???i guess she'll have to stay. where is Dudley Dooright when ya need him , huh???
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Man, it's great to be home, but what a wonderful meet. Pat and Ruth are the BEST hosts, plus their family and friends that pitch in to make it all happen. It was a real pleasure to finally meet the folks I only know from the BB...Sue Lynn and Lottie and Dan, along with Lottie's daughter Sarah, Duncan' wife Laurie...she's the one getting the cool Model A, Rodger's better half(and I mean that sincerely) Sharon, and wonderful to renew friendships and meet new faces. Definitely a Class AAA meet. Add my thanks to One Shot, Canadian Signcrafters, Kelly for the Precision Board, Sign Business magazine, PAT'S MOM for the crocheted (sp?) door prizes and the squeeze box music, and a particular and heartfelt thanks to Duncan and Stevo for leaving the storm at home this year. The one you broughtlast year was quite enough, thank you. Thanks for the pictures of me in my palmier days, Duncan. I had forgotten just how the right guy can make even a polyester leisure suit look good. Great time...now I'm tired...10 hour drives do that to me...and I'm off to the rack. Hey, Jilly, Mr. Peanut sez howdy!
MUR
-------------------- Murray MacDonald OldTime Signs 529 Third Ave S Kenora, ON. P9N 1Y3 oldtimesigns@gokenora.com Posts: 781 | From: Kenora, ON | Registered: Jan 2003
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I'm still basking in the glow of the meet. The flood in Edmonton was the anticlimax to the weekend compared to the meet on the prairie.
Back in Edmonton it was crazy getting back to the hotel at the MAll. The trip was smooth until city limits. WOW.. the weather was like nothing I had ever seen before... roads closed. and almost every intersection flooded. And the hail was piled high in places. The last few miles took 3 hours.
While there were definitely some problems at the Mall, it wasn't nearly as serious as the media made it out.
Basically there was more than two inches of rain in a little less than a half hour. The storm sewers couldn't handle it and things backed up in a hurry.
There were four main drain pipes that came apart in the mall... all 10 inchers under pressure. They were all in the ceiling of the main level of the mall and when they came apart they brought down the false ceilings... just T-bar. No roofs collapsed as reported in the media.
As the water built up it flooded an electrical room in the basement making it necessary to cut power to one third of the mall. Once power was out and water still rising... they had no choice but to shut things down.
As you can imagine with 20,000 autos leaving the mall at once, on top of major congestion already in the area because of flooded intersections made for a slow exit... just when I was trying to get back into the area. The last 3 blocks took me an hour to travel.
There were some submerged cars in the lower parkade of the mall and lots of upset people to be sure.
As they were herding the last of the shoppers out I managed to talk my way back into the mall to check our site... and as I had hoped there were no problems where we were working. Today it was work as normal.
Early this morning I walked through the mall when they were still finishing the cleanup and if I hadn't known where the problems were I might have missed some of the damage, it wasn't that big a deal.
Except for a couple of stores which did suffer water damage it was business as usual by noon today.
But it will be a story to talk of for a long time to come by everyone who was there. It made me glad to live in British Columbia, where it definitely does rain, but not nearly that much at once.
Reporting from sunny Edmonton...
-dan
-------------------- Dan Sawatzky Imagination Corporation Yarrow, British Columbia dan@imaginationcorporation.com http://www.imaginationcorporation.com
Being a grampa is one of the the most wonderful things in the world!!! Posts: 8738 | From: Yarrow, B.C. Canada | Registered: Nov 1998
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Well here we are just 2 days past P.T.P. and heavily back into work at the shop. The tent came down last night, with a sense of relief that its over, but with a heavy heart...we miss all of you already...Our goal was for you to have a rear-laxing time here & the learning and exchange of ideas a bonus...we hope we accomplished that. First thank-yous to the sponsors already have been mentioned above. Ruth and I would personally like to thank Steve & Barb, Letterville is a swell place to let all know about the meet and for all to express their excitment & passion at attending meets. Thank you again. Sponsors your participation though sometimes taken for granted is much appreciated... To have products & Literature on hand for all to use & check out is tremendous. thanks to all that came and participated... You may not realize it, but your enthusiasm & passion for what you love & do is infectious, not just to other letterheads, but also to all the locals that came to see what was happening under the bigtop. The comments I have received in the last few days is a disbelief that there are people out there doing what they want & love...and most of these comments have expressed envy ..so don't take your love for what you do for granted... Murray a parcel will be arriving in the mail soon...we hope it warms up your romance he he.. Jill the panel diva of Letterheads your positive attitude is just totally great(in Scottish accent). Bruce Von Ander.. the echo of "you're a good teacher" still rings in my ears...Thanks for the pinstriping pointers..& by the way the young lad loves his bike...didn't take him long to be off showing it to his friends, he is extremely happy. Dan we hope your truck turns heads even though there's not a big chicken in the back...doing it in gold just solidifies the care & passion with which you carry on your work even before you step out of the cab...Thanks to for lending a hand & use of your truck for the tear down. Ducan & Laurie were we happy to see you when you pulled in, up to then we were feeling a little overwhelmed by the tasks still ahead, but your help soon calmed those nerves... Duncan the truck came out of the repair shop today...and it was a frost plug. We'll be seeing you all soon in Edmonton, I'm sure. Stevo you keep hangin out with Jill and we'll have to bring in panels by the truckload just to keep up with you two..Suelynn, Lotti and Kelly was really great to see you three again, was good to see you get right into it...Confidence is a wonderful thing. Warren thanks for diggin in & helping with Dan's truck & cleanup on Sunday it was much appreciated...Morgan, this your 1st meet.. I hope we all inspired you to pick up & run with it... don't forget to write up what it was like for you..we all like to share in your experience. Rodger & Sharon, what a fun couple.. don't know where you pick up all your one liners Rodger, but they sure are funny...Marty thanks for bringing along the easels, glass gilding stand and your guitar...was fun to sit down with you Murray & Mom in the jam Sat. evening... glad to see you made it home safe as you looked tired... so hope you have caught up on that sleep. Thank you all for a wonderful time. We hope to see you all at a meet real soon.
-------------------- Pat Welter Masterhand Signs and Designs Unity, Saskatchewan.Canada Posts: 1304 | From: Unity, Saskatchewan.Canada | Registered: May 1999
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Lotti Barb has posted the pics on the past meets page..so check out the group photo there...We are missing Rodger in that pic as he was having trouble with the brightness of the sun...So with all the cameras that were going, hopefully there is one that has us all...Thanks again Barb....Pat
-------------------- Pat Welter Masterhand Signs and Designs Unity, Saskatchewan.Canada Posts: 1304 | From: Unity, Saskatchewan.Canada | Registered: May 1999
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For the first time in my life (and maybe in Canada Post history) I received fire in the mail! Thanks so very much Kelly - we have a blank 4' x 8' section of wall 12' off the floor. Wouldn't that be the coolest place for one of those faux fireplaces decorators are always including on the reno shows. But my fire & enclosure will beat anything they could do. Thanks Kelly, And a big thanks to Pat & Ruth for mailing it. Deb
-------------------- Murray MacDonald OldTime Signs 529 Third Ave S Kenora, ON. P9N 1Y3 oldtimesigns@gokenora.com Posts: 781 | From: Kenora, ON | Registered: Jan 2003
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Look at this hilarious panel that Lotti painted for me. Just wanted to share it. It still makes me laugh. Suelynn painted me one which was equally cool, but Stevo has to ship it to me because it wouldn't fit in my suitcase. I nabbed a cute one from MUR too. Back to Reality. Love...Jill
-------------------- That is like a Mr. Potato Head with all the pieces in the wrong place. -Russ McMullin Posts: 8834 | From: Butler, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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Here's the aforementioned panel! THANKS LINNIE! Love...Jill
-------------------- That is like a Mr. Potato Head with all the pieces in the wrong place. -Russ McMullin Posts: 8834 | From: Butler, PA, USA | Registered: Jan 2001
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huh???
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