President's Message

by Thad Streeter

I hope that everyone took the opportunity to visit Iola on Friday and Saturday, May 21st and 22nd. The reason, of course, was to attend the 50th anniversary celebration of Numismatists of Wisconsin. The coin show (the 5th NOW show held in Iola in the past 11 years) was sold out as usual. Unusually warm seasonal temperatures may have held back some of the usual crowd, but there was enough dealers and activities to keep the most discriminating collectors busy.

My thanks go out to Cliff Mishler and Joel Edler for taking on the task of organizing and running the show. As usual, many extra touches were added that made it “extra special” for those attending. NOW founder and numismatic legend, Chet Krause, was present and available, spending hours talking to friends old and new.

The Friday night Mystery Dinner was not only a great meal attended by about 60 people, but also quite the awards ceremony. The six living charter members of NOW were all present and each was presented with a five medal set of silver NOW medals from the five shows held in Iola. A special ANA President’s award presented by ANA President, Cliff Mishler (a perk of the office) was awarded to Ron and Phyllis Calkins in recognition of a lifetime of service to NOW. Last, but certainly not least, a gold issue of this year’s NOW medal was presented to Chet Krause, founder of NOW. Those present were also able to get a special tour of the Iola Historical Society.

My duties were to chair the Board of Governor’s meeting held Saturday morning at 11:00 and then the annual General Membership meeting at 2:00 p.m. As usual the meetings took care of our organization’s business and I am happy to report that our membership is at the same level as in 2009 and that we are in fine financial shape to move into our next 50 years.

Happy collecting to all and enjoy your summer.