Just a quick note of thanks from myself and John. CenterFold 2013 was a success – each year things have gone smoother, and everyone had a great time.
We had 115 attendees, about the same as last year, which we count as an improvement since this is a PCOC year and Beth is GOH at PCOC. 70 classes were taught, plus a few special workshops. The guests of honor were fantastic – Beth Johnson and Brian Chan both taught many classes and spent most of the remaining time in the gathering room, folding and socializing with everyone. We had a lot of beginner/low intermediate folders this year, and they were thrilled to take classes from and work casually with Brian and Beth. That means a lot to a young folder. And of course many convention attendees jumped in and assisted – from helping at admin to the exhibit setup to teaching beginner workshops – I know I will leave people out if I try to list everyone, but special thanks to Kay Eng, Patsy Wang-Iverson and many more. The cookout at the Tucker’s who have generously allowed us to invade their home and provide us with a wonderful repast sets an atmosphere of community and friendship. It relaxes people and puts the guests inside the event with the attendees instead of the guests being “off limits”. I heard Kathy Knapp, who some of you know from New York’s annual convention, others of you may know her name from the origami forums, she is a frequent poster, or maybe you know her from CenterFold – say to Brian Chan (who has attended the New York convention many many times) “you don’t know me but I’ve seen you at New York many times and it’s a pleasure to meet you”. Many of the convention attendees jumped in to assist with registration, teaching beginners workshops etc. We have a lot to be grateful for not the least of which are the members of our group who volunteer their time and work so incredibly hard to make these events. We want to thank Tim, Karen, and Jon Tucker for the use of their home, for the wonderful food they provided and for manning the registration table, the exhibit, teaching, hauling, loading and moving equipment and supplies and for the public relations in dealing with attendees. Cecilia Adams and her granddaughter Fiona worked every day as well – Fiona became quite proficient as a cashier and got into the giant folding. Cecilia fielded countless questions and taught at the beginner’s workshops as well as covering the registration table for hours on end. She and Tim both skipped taking any classes so they could cover the registration table. Jeff Klein, Mitch Gross, Sheree Green, Michael Dugger, Doyline Williams, Yasue Sakaoka – taught and ran errands, fielded questions, worked the registration table, helped with giant folding. The volunteers arrived early and left late. Mike and Merida Weinstein even managed to drop by and help with stuffing totes on Thursday despite their family having come in from Guatemala. This is the strength, the backbone of our group. For anyone who has not seen them, we have tons of pictures up on facebook https://www.facebook.com/ohiopaper.folders and flikr http://www.flickr.com/photos/ohiopaperfolders/sets Hope to see you all next year. Monica Salisbury and John Scully