The 2017 National Show!  July 21-23, 2017   Colorado Springs, CO

The 48th National insulator show was held in Colorado Springs at the Hotel Elegante.  Dan Gauron, Mike Green and Dave Baron hosted the show. The hotel was excellent with extensive accommodations including a spacious show hall as well as a wonderful banquet hall overlooking the Rocky Mountains.  This show was very well planned out with numerous activities available for those who arrived early. These included a ride up Pikes Peak on the cog railway as well as a 6.5 mile hike over an elevation of 3800 feet for the adventuresome! Tours of the Air Force Academy, the Garden of the Gods, as well as a actual gold mine tour were also provided. Everything was very well planned and coordinated, making it enjoyable for all.  The Saturday awards banquet was buffet style with both chicken and beef and concluded with the display awards, several special awards and the presentation the NIA Lifetime Membership Award, two new inductions into the NIA Hall of Fame and four NIA President's awards.  The show featured an incredible 30 collector displays, two fantastic group displays (seldom seen insulators & junkers - insulators with inclusions, bubbles, milk, etc.) as well as the NIA educational exhibit on artificially colored insulators.  Each displayer received a great wall plaque with the full color show logo, an oak sidepin with a purple CD 121 W.G.M.Co. mounted. Feedback from dealers and collectors alike was fantastic!

Two options were provided to climb Pikes Peak. Mike Green coordinated a hike up the mountain (13 miles with a 7,500 foot climb!) for a small group of adventurers. For the rest of us there is the cog railway which provides great views and a easier climb to the top.

The Saturday night awards banquet was well attended and had several very special attributes. Music was provided by Duane Davenport on piano and Mike Swanson on oboe including an insulator version of A Horse With No Name (A Pony with no name) was featured. Each displayer received a beautiful award with a side pin mounted on a finished oak board complete with a beautiful CD 121 WGM purple insulator, a show logo and even date nails to hold the side pin! A very special speech was made by Mike Bliss, who entered the hall in the overalls that Jerry Turner wore for the classic "Hemingray 42 Awards" with a beard & cigar at the start. During the dinner all attendees were surprised with the notification that all their meals had been paid for by Bill Rohde in honor of Bill's parents Don & Camille! Mike Green also presented some beautiful photographic cards.

In addition to the numerous display awards there were several significant NIA awards given out:

Special Show Host Awards:

• Significant Contribution to the Hobby Award to Mike Bliss.
• The Lon C. Holy Memorial Award for Outstanding Enthusiasm & Support of the Hobby to Cameron Case.

Additional Awards:

• The LSIC presented the N.R. Woodward Literary award to Lis Bergman for the Crown Jewel article series on the British Amberly Museum.
• The Len Linscott Pioneer Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Hobby was presented to Tommy Bolack

NIA Hall of Fame was started in 2012 and we had two inductees this year:

• Ezra Cornell:
• William Brookfield:

Lifetime Membership (The NIA's highest award) presented:

• Bob & Carolyn Berry (Round Rock, TX)

Five President's Awards were given:

• Kay Bryant (Hobe Sound, FL) - NIA Chair for the yearly Scholarship Committee

• Darryl Wagner (Smithville, MO) - NIA Events Advisor and Host for the 2018 National show

• Ron Yuhas (Helena, MT) - NIA Western Region Vice President

• Don Briel (Providence, UT) - Previous NIA President and current first past President

• Bill Rohde (Fresno, CA) - NIA Treasurer for the last six years!

Two NIA Scholarships were also awarded:

• Andrew Hedges
• Trever Dean

At the conclusion of the NIA general meeting was the announcement of next year's National show.  It will be held in Kansas City, MO with Darryl & Margaret Wagner as hosts. LINK

For more details on this great show, check out the links below.

• Seldom Seen Group Display

• The National Show

• The Displays

National shows are unlike anything else in the hobby.  It is the one time of year when collectors from across the globe get together and meet.  Note that Lee Brewer again made creative and beautiful "insulator currency" to be given to junior displayers to be spent at the show. These came in several denominations and were so popular few ever got turned in by the dealers. See the $10 denomination below (click the image for a larger view of this neat item).

Examples of some of the insulators available at this show!

Return to the National Insulator show page