Convention Report-2008 by Joe DeGennaro   The 2008 RMS Convention in Matamoras, PA, is history, and we can put it done as a great success.  Driving there, I must admit as we drove though a lot of park and forest area that I thought our hotel would be in the middle of nowhere.  That didn't turn out to be the case at all.  The hotel was nestled in a beautiful area surrounded by walking trails, but it was also a short distance from many stores and restaurants of all types.   There were only 133 registered, a small number by our usual standards, but I must say that that number certainly wasn't reflected in the participation of all that went on during the week.  There were 21 states represented with Pennsylvania having the most with 24; 14 attended from Canada, and we had four attending from England.  A very nice full buffet breakfast, which was free, was always well attended.  The grab tables were always fully stocked thanks to Bob Hofacker and surrounded by collectors, the 10 dealer tables did a good business and the auctions were very well attended (bringing in over $15,000).  The trip to the Culinary Institute and the tour of Hyde Park was full with 42 taking part.  18 of us had a wonderful meal at the Institute and 27 others enjoyed lunch at a local brew pub (sadly, no matches).  The Ice Cream Social, with fun and games, was big hit with lots of prizes won.  Rusty Ruffner won the Staples Guessing game, Stan Tombs won the Full Book Guessing game and Glenn Lewis, John Bachochin, and Rich Greene tied for the Matchstick Guessing game.   There were 101 displays from 23 participants and they all did themselves proud.  Our three display cases were filed with a wonderful array of older items for all to enjoy and Stan Toombs and I brought some of our match machines for people to enjoy.  Rich Greene won Best of Show for his terrific Hula Girls display, which also won a number of other awards.  Other big award winners were Jim Benes, Bill Evans, Marc Edelman and Bill Longenecker.  Marc Edelman received the much deserved Outstanding Collector Award and Wayne Eadie and Bob Borton were elected to the Hall of Fame.   We tried something new this year and had the banquet on Friday to see if it would boost attendance.  There were 93 at the banquet which was one of the best percentages of those attending the Convention in recent years.  The meal was very nice and raffle prizes of money, free room nights and gift cards were given out throughout the evening to help the evening flow much smoother, which it did.  The decision to announce award winners and giving them their awards without taking pictures (which were available afterwards) also helped the evening go smoother.  Afterwards many of us joined John Woods for his traditional "not goodbye, but until we meet again next year toast".  It was fitting end to a wonderful evening.   My congratulations go out to Donna Longenecker and Bill Gigantino, our Convention Co-Chairs, and all those who contributed so much time and effort to making this year's Convention such a success.  I hope to see a lot more of you next year in Hagerstown, where we've been promised another wonderful Convention. Back to RMS Home Page