President's Message (2009)
by PNNA President Lisa Loos

4th Quarter 2009

I can’t believe summer is over!!! I hope all of you were able to take a vacation and relax. I was able to attend the ANA World’s Fair of Money® in Los Angeles. I made a side journey to Dodger Stadium and was entertained by the many fights in the stands. Needless to say, the convention area was much cleaner and safer than the stadium.

First, I need to begin with a HUGE thank-you to Greg Smith, Puyallup Fair Coordinator, for all his efforts in maintaining our booth in the Hobby Hall. This event is an important outreach activity for the organization and without his coordination, it would not happen. Thanks again to Greg and all the volunteers for your service and dedication; it is greatly appreciated.

Second, don’t forget the upcoming convention hosted by the Willamette Coin Club, in conjunction with the PNNA, October 24-25 at the DoubleTree at Lloyd Center in Portland. Once again, we will have a good representation of out of state dealers. (Please read the convention report in this issue.) I hope to see many of you there seeking the last missing piece to your collection. (Remember, I began the year encouraging you all to make the resolution to complete your collection this year. Hopefully, you will be able to make it happen.)

See you in October!!! — Lisa.

3rd Quarter 2009

Since the new board has been in office just over a year, I think it is appropriate to give a “State of Numismatic Union” speech. Okay, it is more like an update…

Membership: This committee is tasked with bringing new benefits to both individual and club members. For individuals, we now have membership cards available. We are sending them out to all new members and to those that request one. To request a membership card, please contact our membership coordinator, Rachel Irish at mrirish5@roadrunner.com. For our Life Members, we are discussing providing extra privileges to our Life Members who attend the Spring Convention. One idea is to grant them a name badge and ribbon for free entry and use of the dealer hospitality room. Our next task is to create and distribute a membership flyer by September.

For all the club members, we have now instituted a formal process for you to rent cases for your show. We have established a policy of 40 cases for FREE with each additional at $10/per case. You will now need to sign a rental agreement form and be responsible for pick-up and delivery to/from our storage facility. If interested, please contact Del Cushing at 206-244-1596 to make arrangements and to receive the rental agreement.

Second, we now have procured an additional projector (to go along with the one housed in Oregon) for our WA clubs to be used at your meetings for presentations. You must supply your own laptop. To make arrangements for pick-up, please contact me. Lastly, we are
working with the Convention Committee to have a designated assigned table at the PNNA Tukwila show for our member clubs to use for recruitment. Any ideas on what you want to see as a member, please contact me at pnnavp@yahoo.com or by phone 425-831-8789.

Education: Once again, we offered two scholarships to the ANA Summer Seminar. Congratulations to this year’s winners-Jason Failla (Adult) and Hannah Powell (YN). We are in discussions about educational seminars to be held sometime next year. If there is a topic of interest to you, please contact Education Chair, Scott Loos, at scottloos@msn.com or by phone 425-831-8789.

Publications: We continue to maintain the pnna.org site and are looking at purchasing newer (and better) software to make the site more attractive. This site continues to be updated regularly; if you have not visited, take a look. Also, the show calendar continues to be produced and distributed to various venues. It is also available on the website.

Outreach: This is an important bridge to the community. Our biggest outreach event is having a booth at the Puyallup Fair in the Hobby Hall. This means that we need to man this table the duration of the Fair. This is a great way for the PNNA to educate the public about numismatics and to use as a recruiting tool. Greg Smith, Puyallup Fair Coordinator, will begin visiting local clubs to solicit volunteers. If you have not done so in the past, I encourage you to sign up for a shift to be part of this great event. Another important part of outreach is to encourage our young people to get involved in our hobby. To do this, I have appointed James Reinders as the Scout Chairman and Lora Hetzel as the YN coordinator. These two have already been successful with scouting clinics at the Portland ANA show as well as the Tukwila convention.

Election: The next PNNA election is approaching. We will install new officers and board members next April. This committee is beginning to create a pool of interested candidates. If you are interested in becoming part of the PNNA board, or know someone that would make a great candidate, please contact Election Chair, Bill McKivor at 206-244-8345.

I hope this update helped all of you understand what the board has accomplished this past year. We continue to work hard to make the PNNA a great organization. Please let myself or any of the board members know what you would like to the organization to accomplish.

Have a FANTASTIC Summer! – Lisa

2nd Quarter 2009

With the ANA convention in Portland, we are offering our members and the public a special edition of The Nor’Wester. (Copies will be available at the Portland and Tukwila conventions.) In this edition you will find additional information about the ANA National Money Show as well as the annual PNNA convention.

As you are reading this, final preparations are underway for the ANA National Money Show in Portland March 13-15. If you plan on attending, I encourage all of you to take time to see the exhibits as well as attend a Numismatic Theater presentation. Also, don’t forget to take some time from the hustle and bustle of the bourse floor, and experience all that Portland has to offer.

If your schedule doesn’t allow you to make Portland, don’t forget about the annual PNNA show in Tukwila April 17-19. Please see the convention page for more information.

Also, please plan on attending the General Membership meeting during the PNNA convention after close of bourse on Saturday. You will have an opportunity to meet the directors, hear from the committees about all their activities, and see awards being presented to fellow numismatists.

I hope to see you all in Portland or Tukwila!

1st Quarter 2009

What better way to begin a New Year than to give ourselves a New Year’s resolution? Will you finally go in search of the last missing piece to your collection? Are you considering being an exhibit participant this year, or do you just want to get more involved with the numismatic scene in the Northwest? This year will be the year you can make all this happen!

To begin, the Boeing Employees Coin Club will hold their annual show January 17-18 at the Kent Commons. Here, you can most certainly find that missing piece amongst the many dealers in attendance. You can also apply to show an exhibit. Exhibit applications can be found at http://www.seattlebecc.org/. The Boeing show is a good tune-up if you would like to exhibit at the upcoming ANA show in March or the PNNA Convention in April. Keep in mind that the “best of show” winner from the PNNA receives a $200 stipend to exhibit on a national level at the ANA World’s Fair of Money® this summer in Los Angeles. Go ahead—what do you have to lose?

If getting more involved is your resolution, many opportunities are available to you this year. Volunteers are still needed to assist with the ANA National Money Show™ in Portland coming this March. Contact me if you would like to volunteer. Secondly, National Coin Week is April 19-25. A great way to get involved is to display an exhibit at a local bank or library. Read more about National Coin Week in an article from Award Chairman Danny Bisgaard. You don’t have to participate at a regional or national level to make a difference. There are many behind the scenes projects that take place to make a successful club. I am sure if you ask your club president what you can do, they would be happy to have the extra help!

It doesn’t matter if you’re into making resolutions or not, I think we all can resolve to participate in some activity to make our numismatic experience more enjoyable.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! – Lisa