America Through the Years’

Springville, California was the venue for the 2013 California Barbed Wire Collector’s Show, March 22-23. In addition to the California collectors, attendees came from Arizona, Colorado, Idaho and New Mexico. The ‘America Through the Years’ theme was well carried out among the displays and sales tables as well as on placemats at the awards banquet. Walk through traffic was pleasantly surprised at the various collections and amazed at the quantity of patented wire since most people think there was only one kind of wire manufactured.

Ed & Linda Clark welcomed the collectors into their beautiful home on Thursday evening, showcasing their museum quality collections along with a wonderfully delicious meal. Thanks so much, Ed & Linda.

The awards banquet was held Saturday evening with the meal being catered by Dan, a friend of the Clark’s. Talk about delicious food!! It was AMAZING and we thank Dan, who willingly shared some of his recipes with the gals. Everyone who attended the banquet, was given a bag of goodies, consisting of California products such as  small jars of honey, balsamic vinegars, stuffed olives, pistachio nuts, yogurt covered raisins, chocolate covered raisins and a bottle of wine.

The Springville and Porterville areas were beautiful with blooming wildflowers in abundance and green grass everywhere, something many of us are not used to, especially this time of year. The Best Western Hotel staff in Porterville was very cordial and helpful to the group of collectors.

A big thank you to the California club, especially to Ed & Linda but also to Mark & Linda Nelson, for a great and memorable weekend.

As a personal side note on Sunday,  Fred & Wrennee Reynolds and Dan and I drove up into the Sequoia National Park, hoping to see some of the famous Redwood trees. About 12 miles in, the park was closed due to snow but we did see some v-e-r-y large trees. The next day, we enjoyed our drive through Death Valley, another beautiful area where, at one point, we were 282 feet below sea level.  Imagine that!  WOW!  Very impressive.

Submitted by Nancy Sowle

Award for Most Miles Traveled presented to Clinton & Vickie Schlepp by Show Chairman, Ed Clark

  Award for Show Theme  – Ed Clark, 1st Place & Karen Boxberger, 2nd Place, Presented by Club President, Mark Nelson

Presidents Award Presented to Raymond Eide by Club President, Mark Nelson

Thursday evening gathering at home of Ed and Linda Clark

On or about April 12 – 13, 2013, the following wires were stolen from a mail box in Kalispell, Montana.

1262 B  Hepp Loop and Staple

1371 B  Durand 6 Point Star

1400 B  Delf’s Torn Leaf

These are very noticeable wires.  If they appear or are offered for sale anywhere, please contact any Officer or Director of the Antique Barbed Wire Society.

PRESIDENT’S LETTER
MAY-JUNE, 2013

Have enjoyed the first two shows of the season. Think Nancy Sowle is going to go into detail with an article and Fred and Wrennee Reynolds will furnish some pictures. Know they will do a great article.

We especially liked the California Show with all the orange groves. There was also olives, grapes, nuts and lemons and the scenery was hard to beat in the area. There was fields of vegetables growing along the way also.

The show at the Devil’s Rope Museum was a great show also. There was a good amount of displays, especially women. Really enjoyed the evening at the Trew Ranch. Delbert and Ruth had a great meal catered and its always fun to see their many displays.

The Show Chairpersons for our Show, Dan and Nancy Sowle, have really been busy getting things lined up and sounds like there will be a good crowd and some great food too. We hope you will all make it to New Mexico for the show on July 19th and 20th.

Looking forward to the next show, which will be the yearly Super Show, in La Crosse, Kansas on May 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. They always have a great show and this year they have even more fun things lined up.

That is all I can think of at this time. Happy collecting and hope to see you all at the upcoming shows.

JERRY BOXBERGER
President, NMBWCA

THE BEST LITTLE WIRE SHOW IN TEXAS

The Devil’s Rope Museum, McLean, Texas was the site for this year’s show on April 12th and 13th. This exhibition was a one and half day show and was well attended by collectors from Colorado, South Dakota, Utah, North Carolina, New Mexico and, of yeah, Texas. The Community Room was filled with sales tables and table displays along with wall-to-wall exhibits of barbed wire, tools and other wire related items.

Delbert and Ruth Trew hosted a Friday evening “finger-food grazin” and self-guided tours of their ranch headquarters, featuring Delbert’s newest tack room and fine gallery. Both Delbert and Ruth are very artistic and creative and it is always a treat to see their place with their new creations.

On Saturday, the Museum was the venue for a reception, honoring the 80th birthdays of Delbert and Ruth and hosted by their families. It was quite a busy place with many friends and relatives congratulating them and enjoying the refreshments of non-spiked punch (what?!) and the beautifully decorated cookies and cupcakes made by a family member.

Red River Steakhouse catered the Saturday evening awards banquet, and as usual, the steaks, baked potatoes, salad and cobbler were delicious. Danny Wright was inducted into the Barbed Wire Hall of Fame, a very well deserved honor. Congrats, Danny. The complete list of awards are as follows:

Thanks to the Wrights, the Herrings and the Trews for another great show and a fun time. We look forward to the next show  show in 2014.

Submitted by Nancy Sowle

Danny Wright was inducted into the Barbed Wire Hall of Fame. His Certificate was presented by Hall of Fame member Jerry Boxberger of Carson, New Mexico.

Jacy Earhart received Women’s Best of Show Award, Presented by DRM Chairman Zack Herring.

Jerry Thornton received Men’s Best of Show Award, presented by DRM Chairman Zack Herring.

PRESIDENT’S LETTER
MAR – APR, 2013

Things are pretty quiet in our area. We can feel Spring in the air. Did not have much snow but the mountains finally got some much needed snow. We had 23 nights below zero, the coldest being minus 19 degrees.

Looking forward to going to the California show in Springville on the 22nd and 23rd of March. They say this area is real pretty and it looks like Ed and Linda Clark along with Mark and Linda Nelson have a great fun show lined up. This show should be a good start for the Summer show schedule.

Not too long after the California show we will head for the Devil’s Rope Museum for the next show on April 12th and 13th. Always enjoy going to the DRM and enjoying all the exhibits and each time see something new. If you have not been there for a while, now is the time to make the trip. Understand Ruth and Delbert Trew have a great get together planned on Friday night in Bull Canyon. We have some of the fondest memories of our times in the Canyon and really looking forward to this year.

The Super Show this year will be in La Crosse, KS on May 3rd and 4th and you can bet that Brad Penka and his many helper’s will have a fun show planned.

Our New Mexico show on July 19th and 20th will be here before you know it. It is shaping up to be a good one. The theme this year is MAGIC and should prove to be interesting to come up with a display.

That’s it for this time and hope to see you all this year at the shows.

JERRY BOXBERGER
President, NMBWCA

PRESIDENT’S LETTER
JAN-FEB, 2013

Hope everyone had a great Holiday season and your stockings were filled with your favorite collectibles. The main thing is we wish each and everyone a Very Happy New Year and good health for the new year.

Not much to write about during this time of the year but the weather. We have already had more snow than we did last year and colder weather too. The main thing is the mountains are getting some much needed snow. Hope it continues and the mountains get a lot of snow for this next Summer crops, downstream.

The California Show will be here before you know it. It is scheduled for March 22nd and 23rd in Springfield, California and understand it is a pretty place so we are looking forward to going.

That is all I can think of for now. The best to everyone and hope to see you all at next year’s shows.

JERRY BOXBERGER
PRESIDENT, NMBWCA

PRESIDENTS LETTER
NOV-DEC, 2012

We’re all dug in for the Winter and hope we get some good snow and moisture for next year. Really need some heavy snows in the mountains.

The show in Canon City, Colorado was sure a good one. There were a lot of displays and Larry and Sandy Sutton along with Nancy McEnulty did a lot to make the show a big success. It was a nice town for the show and there was a lot of things to see and do. Had some good food along the way and especially the banquet was extra good. Congratulations to all the award winners for their great displays.

Several people took a trip to Bishop Castle, several miles away. This man, Jim Bishop, has been building this 100 foot tower castle for some 40 years out of local rock, cement and steel and he says its “a monument to hardworking people”. Those that went really enjoyed seeing it and some climbed to the top and everyone that saw it said it was sure worth the trip and would do it again.

The last event for the season was the Symposium in La Crosse, KS. There were a lot of people that went and gave talks on different subjects. The pricing committee’s did a lot of work bringing everything up to date. The wire committee really did extra work. Thanks to everyone who came and all the extra effort that they put out to make the Symposium a good event and a lot was accomplished. This is the place to express what you are thinking in relation to the collecting hobby.

The ABWS meeting went well also. There was a lot of good discussion on the future of the hobby. After the meeting, the ladies took a trip to the Hays area and went to Victoria, KS and toured “The Cathedral of the Plains” church. Several of us that did not go earlier, went after the meeting and it is a beautiful building and a lot of history. After their tour, the ladies had a good lunch at Gella’s German Restaurant in Hays.

Guess that brings the collector shows to an end for this year and will look forward to the California Show in Springville on March 22nd and 23rd, 2013. Should be a beautiful area and a nice change of location.

Everyone have a Happy Holiday Season and Happy New Year.

JERRY BOXBERGER
PRESIDENT, NMBWCA

By Joe C. Denton, as originally published in Barbed Wire Gazette, March 1980

When a lawyer friend gave me a copy of Glover’s “Bobbed Wire Bible” I never dreamed this would lead to such an enjoyable, interesting, and profitable hobby. Neither did I dream there were so many great lessons of life to be learned from barbed wire collecting.
Barbed wire collecting can be very helpful to the body because it gives us additional exercise and rotates our activities which give diversity of body action. It is very easy to fall into a rut of routine and miss a lot of wonderful experiences. Barbed wire collecting relaxes the body and who in this complex, troubled and sometimes very frightening age could not use a little relaxation. Barbed wire collecting renews the mind. As one studies the history of barbed wire and the influence of such a small item on our way of life, his mind is renewed with thoughts of strength and hope for our age.
I might add barbed wire collecting can be profitable and rewarding to the pocket book.
All of these things are great but there are even greater rewards to the collector from the influence of barbed wire collecting on life. The principles of barbed wire collecting have a close relationship to the principles that make for a better life.
The collector is always looking for the rare and different types of wire which should be our philosophy of life. Life should be filled with the rare and the different. Why should we settle for the run of the mill when there are so many wonderful and exciting things life offers. We should be constantly looking for the rare and the different experiences of life that bring out the best in us and keep us from becoming just another number in the host of mankind. God knows we could use a few of the very rare and different on the political scene today.
The barbed wire collector is looking for authentic patents and dates for his collection. This should remind us that we should not be satisfied in this life with some cheap imitations that can never satisfy. Many are those who go around imitating others, letting others do their thinking, and by so doing they are letting others control their actions. When this happens one never finds their true self. Their minds, talents, abilities and desires are suppressed and they never become the real authentic person they should have been. Don’t settle for cheap imitations.
You will not be a collector long until you will find collecting a sticky business. Who is the collector who has not had a wire slip and a barb prick his finger. The same is true in life, the pricks and wounds in life begin early and stay with us to the grave. Sometimes the wounds are deep and slow to heal. The hurt lingers even longer. But time will heal the prick of a barb in the finger as well as the hurt in the wound of the heart. The joys of life overshadow every wound of the heart.
The collector has a constant desire and aspiration for the completion of his collection. How much more should this truth be applied to our lives. Every day should be lived to its fullest, drawing from life all that it has to give and giving all that it gives so that those around us and those who come after us will find a better world in which to live.
Self gratification is our “gold metal” when we know we lived our lives as our selves, authentic, rare, and different, full and complete.
Collecting can be fun and so can our lives.
_______________
Quote from Jack Glover, “Little did I realize my wire bible would inspire a sermon”.
This sermon was given by Joe Denton, Pastor of The First Baptist Church, De Queen, Arkansas.

PRESIDENT’S LETTER
SEPT-OCT, 2012

Talk about hot and dry, we have sure had our share. Know a lot of you are in the same shape. Don’t look forward to Winter, but will welcome the cooler weather of Fall.

We really had a big 40th anniversary show in July. Thanks to everyone that made the trip to New Mexico. There were 8 states represented and some great displays, thirty separate, from both men and women. Really had some extra good displays using our theme, Memories. There was close to 60 attendees and really a lot of walk-thru traffic. 72 tables were used.

There is a lot of people to thank for the success of our show but the Show Chairpersons, Dan and Nancy Sowle, deserve the bulk of the thanks. Fred and Wrennee Reynolds always do a lot and print out the nice award certificates, table and individual name tags and take great pictures. They always pick up the slack of anything that needs to be done.

Our trail ends get together was at the Buford Steak House and think everyone had a good time. Friday night was the big award winner for a good time. The Sowle’s had everyone over to their house for a great BBQ meal furnished by the NMBWCA Club. It is always great to see their many collections on display. Everyone had a nice time looking at the many rolls of wire they had collected thru the last 40 years and especially the famous “Wire Dome”. As I’m sure everyone has heard, that chapter of wire history closed as the Sowle’s sold their wire business. I’m sure they will miss it but will enjoy a different phase of wire collecting.

Saturday night was the Awards Banquet and congratulations go out to the Kirsch Family, David, Shawn and Scott, for Men’s Best of Show and Carolyn Herring took the award for Women’s Best of Show. Congratulations to all the other award winners also. The Ugly Collector award was taken by Bob Spencer and presented by last years winner, Mark Nelson.

Congratulations go out to the most recent Hall of Fame winners, Shawn Kirscht, Mark Nelson and Scott Kirscht.

Looking forward to the Colorado Show in Canon City on September 22nd and 23rd.

Happy collecting to everyone.

JERRY BOXBERGER
PRESIDENT, NMBWCA