This was the 17th Annual Mail Pouch Barnstormers Picnic (16th Anniversary!)
“A Good Time Was Had By All, Part XVI“
by Bill Vint – Fall 2018 edition of the ‘Mail Pouch Barnstormers’ newsletter
The most dedicated of Mail Pouch enthusiasts once again cooked up their signature family dish, packed their picnic baskets and descended on the historic old gymnasium in Belmont, Ohio – home of the most celebrated of all Mail Pouch barn painters – to renew friendships, exchange gossip and bid on such things as a rubber turtle, original Mail Pouch artwork, designer bird houses and a never-used “carspidor” among other items.
The 2018 Mail Pouch Barnstormers annual meeting, share-a-dish picnic and fund-raising auction drew a crowd of roughly 80 Mail Pouch fans. Among the activities:
● Well-known muralist Ruston Baker, who restored the iconic Mail Pouch sign on the Biehl family barn in Moss Run, Ohio – the MPB featured barn for 2018 – made a great presentation, detailing not only his work on restoring the sign and the barn, but revealing his deeper artistic ties to projects of this type.
● Incumbent Roger Warrick of Hamilton, Ohio, and newcomers John Learn of Commodore, Pa., and Manda Testa of Gahanna, Ohio, were elected to three-year terms on the MPB Board of Directors. In an action taken later, Maxine Zimmerman Dudley of Alliance, Ohio, was appointed to fill the remaining two years of Judy Humphrey’s term after the Senecaville, Ohio, resident was forced to resign due to medical reasons.
● Meeting after the gathering, the MPB Board re-elected Roger Warrick as president; Kevin Tracy of Barnesville, Ohio, as vice president; Ryan Eash of Johnstown, Pa., as secretary; Rick Campbell of Newark, Ohio, as treasurer, and Bill Vint of East Troy, Wis., as executive director.
● The annual fundraising auction generated $572 for the general fund, which also supports the organization’s Mail Pouch sign restoration and preservation efforts. The sale of 2018 merchandise including woodies, embroidered patches and postcards featuring the Biehl family barn resulted in another $503 in revenue (and continues to add income through online sales).
● Photographer Phil Andraychak and his artistic wife Carrie will share a complimentary membership as Carrie’s prize for winning the “Build a Better Mail Pouch Birdhouse” contest.
● Finally, no one left the premises hungry!
More photos…
