Modeler of The Year Contest

September 16, 2024 Pelikan Club Meeting Minutes 

This was the first meeting in our new venue at Pinellas Gulf Coast Academy.  It was an open-theme meeting, well attended with 36 people.   First up was the introduction of a new member, Dave San Souci.  Welcome, Dave!

 So this was a trial meeting in the new place.  It was a much larger room (with comfy chairs). There was a discussion as to whether to sign the contract to continue there, and the club voted yes.

 The service for Charlie Hess is this Saturday the 21st at p.m. at the Paradise Island Mobile Home Park., Starkey Rd, Largo.  There is a GoFundMe page to help Charlie’s wife Patti pay for the funeral expenses.  Anyone wishing to contribute can look it up under Patti Hess.  At Dave Fredrickson’s suggestion, the club is contributing $100.  Also, there was a suggestion made which was well received to create a Charlie Hess award for Pelicon 2025.

 Larry had brought in some magazines and old models of Charlie’s for members to take, and he will have a couple of tables at Modelpalooza to sell Charlie’s kits for money for Patti.

 Shawn Hays brought in a copy of the new Pelicon ’25 flyer he’s been working on. It has a dynamic new look, great job Shawn!

 October’s meeting will be the Model Pledge contest, with cash prizes.  A list of the participants and models is on our website.  Donn keep the website updated frequently so y’all should check it out!  

 November meeting will be the officer selections for 2025- Donn Buerger has served as president, George Hecht as treasurer and I as secretary since COVID-19, that’s four years.  There are quite a few members who have joined us these past few years, maybe some of you might consider running.

 It’s time to start thinking of our Christmas party, and it was agreed to have it in the same restaurant in Safety Harbor as last year.  Details later.

George Hecht mentioned that there is an Armor Show at the Zephyr Hills Airport from  Nov. 8-10. Go check out the big guns!

 Walter Klein, an old member who’s been AWOL for four years, came back and brought examples of some incredible 3D-printed pieces he’s producing for Wonderfest in June.

 The ongoing Modeler of the Month contest is wrapping up.  The first, second and third place modelers every month have been accumulating points and there will be cash prizes at the last meeting. First place in this month’s model contest was Frank Stansell. Congrats Frank!

That’s it for this month, kiddies. See you at the contest next month! Dina 

August 21, 2024 Pelikan Club Meeting Minutes 

The main item discussed was one of our club's founding members Charlie Hess has been ill with cancer. I'm sad to say Charlie passed on August 23rd. He was a super nice guy and he will be missed dearly by the club, his family & friends. Rest in Peace, my friend. the link is here:  https://veteransfuneralcare.com/obituary/charles-hess?fbclid=IwY2xjawE-4IZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHZo-tBXuEHsw4j_ADa6PQw98F2rIykVg2U5idriyQpGSu2Hb5Yuh-6hvPw_aem_ddgys4UHedZqqDOWXc1UOQ

The club is still working out the paperwork and legalities of moving a trial meeting to September 16 at the Gulf Coast Academy media room for our future meeting place. If all goes well we will meet there in the future, we can always return to the Funeral Home if need be.  Some people pointed that out, but if we keep growing, we will have to move anyway. We handed out maps of how to get there from the Funeral Home, it's almost within walking distance. I will be sending out emails if anything changes. 

Pictures of this month’s and past months’ models, a calendar of events, and more extensive commentary go to Pelikanmodelclub.org.  Next month is: an OPEN month. See you all in September, Donn 

July 15th, 2024 Pelikan Club Meeting Minutes 

Going to make this short, Minutes are falling behind, I'm not sure how many read these anyway and some of this is discussed on the "Home Page". 

The club is still working out the paperwork and legalities of moving a trial meeting for  September at the Gulf Coast Academy media room for our future meeting place. If all goes well we will meet there in the future, we can always return to the Funeral Home if need be.  Some people pointed that out, but if we keep growing, we will have to move anyway. We will still meet at the funeral home for August meeting or if you are notified otherwise. 

Pictures of this month’s and past months’ models, a calendar of events, and more extensive commentary go to Pelikanmodelclub.org.  Next month is: an OPEN month. See you all in August. Donn 

June 17th, 2024 Pelikan Club Meeting Minutes 

Going to make this short, Minutes are falling behind, I'm not sure how many read these anyway and some of this is discussed on the "Home Page". This month’s meeting was packed with at least 38 members. The theme was “Just Add Water”. The entries were varied from military vehicles to planes, figures, Sci-Fi. 

The club is still working out the paperwork and legalities of moving our meetings to Gulf Coast Academy media room for our future meeting place. It looks like we may have to pay what we pay now and our money at the funeral home goes to charity Some people pointed that out, but if we keep growing, we will have to move anyway. We will still meet at the funeral home till you are notified otherwise. 

MacDill AFB having a new dedication of their headquarters building with our permanent models display on June 27th. The people in the club who built aircraft for the display will be invited to attend the ceremonies. More on that later, you will need clearance to enter the base. 

Sprues & Brews for the club is getting together on Sunday the 23rd, we are getting about a dozen that show up, and they are lots of fun. If others in the club are interested, contact Donn Buerger or Shawn Hayes. 

The club purchased a trophy package for the IPMS Nationals in Madison, WI. We got Category 235 Multi or Towed Vehicles - non-diorama. 

For pictures of this month’s and past months’ models, a calendar of events, and more extensive commentary go to Pelikanmodelclub.org.  Next month is: "Bring your Favorite Model". See you all in July. Donn 

May 20th, 2024 Pelikan Club Meeting Minutes 

Sorry about last month as there were no meeting Minutes for April. This month’s meeting was packed with at least 32. The theme was “Diorama/Open”. The entries were varied from military vehicles to planes, figures, Sci-Fi. 

The club is still working out the paperwork and legalities of moving our meetings to Gulf Coast Academy media room for our future meeting place. We might be moving to the next meeting unless there is a hiccup in the process, if not we will be there in July.

We got updates on the Space Coast Model Contest and Show, and many of our members won medals. Also, we got an update on the Southlandz Car Show in Largo, it appears they had a successful show. PamsCon is right around the corner on June 22nd. They put on a good show, so let's show up in force. According to William Finley, they will start judging as the models are entered and they won't be kicking anybody out during that process.  

MacDill AFB having a new dedication of their headquarters building with our permanent models display on June 27th. The people in the club who built aircraft for the display will be invited to attend the ceremonies. More on that later, you will need clearance to enter the base. 

Also brought up was occasionally having group builds at the Clearwater Library, there was a lukewarm reception on the idea, will see what that holds for the future. We will continue having Sprues & Brews.

The club purchased a trophy package for the IPMS Nationals in Madison, WI. We got Category 235 Multi or Towed Vehicles - non-diorama. 

For pictures of this month’s and past months’ models, a calendar of events, and more extensive commentary go to Pelikanmodelclub.org.  Next month is: "Just Add Water". See you all in June. Donn 

March 18th, 2024 Pelikan Club Meeting Minutes 

This month’s meeting was packed with at least 40 members, standing room only. The theme was “Open”. The entries were varied from military vehicles to planes, figures, Sci-Fi, real space…The Model Pledge is underway. Twenty-seven people have pledged models, and Donn was hoping to bring the total up to 30. Prizes will be judged and prizes awarded in October. 

March saw 3 Swap Meets from the clubs along the I-4 corridor with 2 weeks of spacing between them. 

MacDill Airfest Show in Tampa is Friday and Saturday, March 29-30, and Sun N Fun April 9-14 in Lakeland. 

Upcoming shows include IPMS Spacecoast the weekend of May 4, and Pamscon June 22.  

A new site and date was secured for PELICON ’25, April 26, 2025, at Higgins Hall at the NE end of Tampa International Airport. Donn, Ozzie, and Brian checked out the facility and it was beautiful with twice the room as we had at the Hampton. We won't have to rent tables, set up, or tear them down. We will have over 7000 sq, ft. The Florida IPMS RC was notified so we're looking good. If anyone would like to be on the committee let Donn know. The Open theme winner this month was Greg Renn with his Avenger torpedo bomber. For pictures of this month’s and past months’ models, a calendar of events, and more extensive commentary go to Pelikanmodelclub.org.  Next month is: "From Russia with Love". See you all in April. Donn 

February 19th, 2024 Pelikan Club Meeting Minutes 

This month’s meeting was packed with at least 35 members. The theme was “Any color than gray or green”. The entries were varied from military vehicles to planes, figures, Sci-Fi, real space…The Model Pledge is underway. Twenty-seven people have pledged models, and Donn was hoping to bring the total up to 30. Prizes were awarded in October. 

Upcoming shows include IPMS Spacecoast the weekend of May 4, and Pamscon June 22.  

PELICON ’25 was discussed we are looking for a new venue and securing a date for our next show. As of right now, they are focusing on April 26, 2025. Ozzie is looking into holding it at Higgins Hall in Tampa, which is much larger than the room we had for Pelicon ’23. The men are also asking for volunteers to be on the convention committee. Email Donn or Ozzie if you wish to help shape the next show.  So the theme this month was anything not green or gray, and Nancy Vale came in first with her bright blue tractor. Congrats, Nancy, keep racking up those points for the big prize!  For pictures of this month’s and past months’ models, a calendar of events, and more extensive commentary go to Pelikanmodelclub.org.  Next month is an open build month, with no theme. See you all in March. Dina 

January 15th, 2024 Pelikan Club Meeting Minutes

     Monday the 15th the first meeting of the new year introduced a few new things to the club. There were 35 people present. The first change was that there was no theme for the monthly contest. Now there will be half-theme months and half-open months. First, we welcomed guests and new members. Curtis Dittman, who has been following the club on FB, paints dragons and fantasy figures; Ken Johnston who builds armor, and Scott Auld who paints figures and busts and 3D prints figures. Welcome gents!

     Dues are due! $25. George Hecht the treasurer gave his report. So we are trying a new version of Modeler of the Month. The first change I mentioned is that half the months will be open-themed. The other is that rather than give a trophy each month, the top 3 models voted on each month will get points- 6 for first place, 4 for second, and 2 for third. We will keep track of the points throughout the year and at the end of the year, the top 3 winners will get cash prizes (or gift certificates) in November. Another addition is the Model Pledge. Pledge a model to build, either new or the one you’ve put away half finished, to finish by October’s meeting. As of last Monday’s meeting, 14 members have pledged models. Email Donn by the end of January if you wish to pledge a kit, also post a pic on FB if you can. 

There is interest in having a swap meet in March. More on that later. July is an open-themed month and it was suggested that members bring in our favorite model and explain why it’s our fave. The suggestion was favorably received. Well, that’s it, kids. Next month is a theme month, the theme being “Nothing green or gray”. 

View the meeting pictures here

Good luck! Dina   

 November 20th, 2023 Pelikan Club Meeting Minutes

    Monday the 20th we had a whopping 34 folks attend the meeting, about 6 of the regulars weren't there, and that would have given us close to 40 attending. It appears the club is growing which is great.   
   We had club officer elections. No new members volunteered to run for office. The same members currently holding office ran again and the motion was made to keep the same slate and were voted in for another 1-year term: Donn Buerger – President, Ozzie Leandri – VP, George Hecht – Treasurer, Dina Arzapalo – Secretary, Donn B will remain Chapter Contact.   
   A NEW club website pelikanmodelclub.org was announced through the commercial service of Go Daddy. We now have a site that all members can use for those who don't use our group page on Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/groups/PelikanModelClub. It will be updated monthly with club business such as “Minutes”, calendar of events, Gallery of the monthly meeting model photos, etc. We hope you all use it due to the effort to build and maintain it.   
    It was discussed and voted upon revising our monthly meeting Theme system. We will have a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd point system giving 6, 4, and 2 points respectively and any member showing up with a model will automatically get a 1 point. These will tally up at the end of the year and CASH awards will be given for 1-3 place. Another change is to have the monthly theme every other month. January 2024 will be an Open Month, and February will have a theme, so 6 open months and 6 theme months.   
   Another new feature for January 2024 will be Declare Model Pledge Night Build, where members will declare a model build for the year. This model will have to be completed by October 2024. (that gives everyone 10 months). Then in October, we will have a Contest, and 1st, 2nd, 3rd will be awarded CASH prizes.   
   From the MacDill AFB display, Denny Cole & Steve were back at the meeting to pick up 3 more models for our display there, a B-29, an F-84F, and an F-4 Phantom, so far that gives us at least a dozen models for the display. They also signed up some of our members to go on base for the display as there is tightened on-base security.      
   Club Dues of $25.00 are due in January 2024, thank you for keeping that in mind.                        Finally, don't forget the club Christmas Party on December 2nd at 2 pm at the Paradise Restaurant in Safety Harbor, the club is paying the Gratuities and the will be raffle tickets handed out for gift certificates for a few lucky winners. We hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving, live long and prosper!        

MEETING MINUTES MONDAY OCT. 16, 2023

This month’s theme was “dual-purpose” -amphibious vehicles, seaplanes, etc. Another packed house with 31 members attending.

We heard from the folks who went to Modelpalooza. They reported that the vendor’s area was quite full, but the model entries were rather light this year. Very few ships and sci-fi was once again one of the biggest categories, which seems to be the trend in model shows now. Also, there was added a new “3D printed” category, and some incredible paper ship models.

Nine models have been entered into the MacDill Air Force base exhibit, and there are a couple of planes they would like added, a B-29 and some others. Donn Buerger knows which ones they want if anyone wants to build them.

There was discussion as to the Modeler of the Month awards, whether to continue as is or make it a cumulative point contest with prizes at the end of the year, also whether to always have theme months or open model months so everyone can participate. No decision has been made yet, nor has a vote been taken yet.

This year’s Christmas party will be held on Dec 2, 2 p.m. at the Paradise Restaurant in Safety Harbor. There was some discussion about having a raffle at the party, and the club members voted to have gift cards be the prizes, not model kits. Members will pay for their own meals, but the club will pay the gratuity.

Also, some news is that David Lockhart has resigned as president of IPMS as of October 31.

This month’s theme was dual-purpose vehicles. Modeler of the Month award went to yours truly for my Flying Sub model. Congrats to me! 

Next month’s theme will be “No guns allowed”. (Does that include phasers and photon torpedoes? LOL)

I may not make it to the November meeting because of another commitment. If so you’ll all be on your own, trying to survive without me LOL. Dina