2006 San Francisco Highlights

The 28th ISASC Convention was held May 4th through May 8th in the “City by the Bay” San Francisco.   The excitement was palpable as members returned to the city where our first convention was held.  As always the return is for the camaraderie and good times shared by all in attendance.  This time was no exception.  The convention exceeded all expectations and the weekend proved to be another memorable reunion of “scalies”.

 The activities got off to a spectacular start with a welcome dinner on Thursday night at the Spinnaker Restaurant in Sausalito.  The highlight of the evening was traversing the Golden Gate Bridge with a stop at Vista Point taking in the panoramic view of the San Francisco skyline.  With the Sausalito waterfront as a backdrop, dinner was an enjoyable time for attendees to catch up with each other.  The bus ride back to the hotel allowed for a short nighttime tour of San Francisco.

 

Friday was a special treat as we viewed member Bill Doniger’s collection.  It is widely proclaimed as one of the most renowned and extensive scale collections in the world.  After seeing the collection no one could dispute this assertion.  Most were in total awe as they had never seen that many scales in one place at one time.  Bill was on hand to give information on the many types of scales and weights in his collection.  Most dreamed one day their own collection would approach the scale of the one they had just seen.  The next stop was the University of California School of Pharmacy to see the Wormser Collection.  Although not a large display in quantity, the quality was well worth the trip. 

Friday afternoon everyone went in their own direction to enjoy the sights of the city.

 

President Peter Laycock opened the official convention as he welcomed everyone at the Friday night get-together.This is always a favorite time for sharing albums pointing out your prized scales and new acquisitions. 
It offers the chance to gab with old friends and make new friends with the first time convention goers.  As the evening progressed the camaraderie that prevailed carried through the entire weekend.


The Saturday morning program got off to a dynamic start with guest speakers Ronald Flores and David Lazier from the California Division of Measurement Standards giving us an in-depth look at their vital role in keeping the commerce of the state running on an honest basis.  With a historical overview they reminded us their procedures and even some equipment have not changed much over the years.  Member Bill James shared his interest in do’tchin or opium scales displaying several examples to show that often the most intriguing aspect of these scales is the variety of shapes of their wooden boxes.  In “Japan Learns to Weigh” Norm Cima donned his Jacket of Everlasting Peace to discuss a 1793 equal arm balance hakari.  Bill Reed brought us into more modern times with his presentation on “Weighing with Digital Scales”.

 

The afternoon was reserved for the perennial favorites of long time convention goers, the traditional Silent Auction and “Let’s Make a Deal”.  Many members use the auction as a primary source for acquiring new scales.  After initially viewing the tremendous selection of items offered, members set about identifying their “must haves” and recording what they hoped would be the winning bid.  When the final bids were in most were openly gleeful as they settled up their accounts and carted off their new treasures.  

 

The day concluded with the gala reception and banquet.  It was the time the society chose to recognize three out-going directors for their many years of dedicated service.  Members Tom Dooley, Ruth Willard and Steve Beare were each honored with their own caricature to express the tremendous gratitude the society has for these members who gave so freely of their time and talents for the lasting betterment of ISASC. 

The program continued Sunday morning with the time honored Show and Tell allowing members to share interesting and unusual items from their own collection.  Afterwards Ben Smith presented a fun and entertaining introduction to next year’s convention in Dearborn inviting all members to join him there.  The morning wrapped up with the business meeting.  Board members updated everyone on their areas of responsibility and then comments and questions were taken from the floor.  A video was shown to let members see the ISASC collection set up in the new storage facility.   Most members were quite impressed by the display and the work accomplished to date.  President Peter Laycock strongly reiterated to the members this was their collection.  Then it was on to the farewell luncheon to say goodbye to those who were leaving.


 

The optional trip on Monday was for the truly “hardcore” who have no limit of scale viewing.  A field trip was offered to view the collections of members Clem Monday and Ken Goodhue.  For those who could spare the extra time it was a rare privilege to see these additional collections.  They returned weary, but deeply satisfied that they had exhausted all the scale viewing opportunities offered by this convention.

The 2007 convention will be held May 17th through May 21st at the Hyatt Regency in Dearborn, Michigan.  Plans are well under way and Convention Chairman Ben Smith promises an incredible convention.  President Peter Laycock and all the board members extend a personal invitation to join them.  Whether this is your first or 29th convention all are welcomed.  So mark your calendar and make plans to meet your fellow scale collectors in Dearborn next May.