Our November 15 meeting was held in the home of Catherine Wu who prepared a delicious eight-course lunch with a variety of Chinese foods. Cathy has many talents and we were treated to a show of her Chinese paintings after lunch. Her favorite pictures are of bamboo branches but all were interesting and a good complement to our snuff bottles.

            Eight of our group joined the over one hundred collectors at the Dublin convention and were able to share stories of a wonderful time. We enjoyed the display of bottles at the Chester Beatty Library as well as the museum tours at the National Museum of Ireland and the “Turning Darkness into Light” exhibition of the Book of Kells at Trinity. Both places had excellent docents to make our visit even more interesting. Our excursion into County Wexford where we visited Rainsford Lodge, Joey Silver’s home, made it possible to enjoy the beautiful Irish countryside. Joey arranged a lunch for us at a local restaurant. Then we were invited to go on to his house where we not only viewed his snuff bottle collection but were entertained by Irish dancers and served tea and homemade desserts by the hospitable neighbor ladies who are among Joey’s many friends. One of them shared that the cookies were Catholic and the pies were Protestant….

            The main business of our meeting was the discussion of arrangements for the educational portion of the day’s activities followed by the annual meeting of the ICSBS which will be held in the Washington, D.C., on Saturday, May 15, 2010. The hotel selected for the event is the Morrison House Hotel in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia. Dealers will be invited, which will be an added incentive. All members are welcome and general details follow. Notices will be mailed closer to the event’s date with the program’s particulars along with an RSVP.

Saturday, May 15, 2010, Hotel Monaco (Athens Room), 480 King Street, Alexandria, Va. 

“Snuff Bottle Collectors Spring Forum”

9:30 – 3:30 p.m.  “Snuff Bottle Collectors’ Spring Forum”
11:45 – 1:15 p.m.  Lunch

ICSBS Annual Members Meeting & Board of Directors Meeting

3:00 – 3:30 p.m.  Coffee or Tea Service in Louis XVI Room
3:30 – 4:30 p.m.  ICSBS Annual Members Meeting
4:30 – 6:00 p.m.  Board of Directors meeting in smaller room in Morrison House
7:00 – 10:00 p.m.  Catered dinner at Kim and Jim’s home

Marion Bozzo and Kim Green