Vicki's Corner

I'd like to start off thanking everyone for their participation and purchases for the "Richard K. Degenhardt Scholarship Fund". Thanks to John our auctioneer this years auction was very successful. We will be sending $833.00 to the fund. Thanks again, to all.

Bob & I would like to thank you all for coming to our home and it was great seeing each and everyone of you again.

We received Forrest DeHahn into our Sunshine Chapter membership. He and his lovely wife Pat have been guests in our Chapter when they have been in Florida for the winter months. We're happy to see them and bid them a warm welcome.

The April meeting will be on April 24th. at O'Keefe's Irish Pub in Tavares, Fl. Directions will be sent out in March.

Everyone have a very good Valentine's Day and a Happy St. Patrick's Day.

Oh, for those who have "QVC". Remember Belleek will be on The St. Patrick's Day special. Watch and get new items that can be gotten only there. If you don't receive QVC and you have internet access, check iQVC and search on "Belleek" for pieces for the day.

Secretary's Report

The meeting of the Sunshine Chapter, BCIS started about 2:00pm, but wait! There was a surprise birthday cake for Patricia from her loving husband, Forrest, after the Irish meal of Shepherd's Pie, Bangers and Mash.

Patricia in Yellow with husband Forrest on her left in blue

Patricia and Forrest are from Beavercreek, Oregon and they winter in Florida. They are avid Belleek collectors and members of the Columbia chapter in Oregon. Forrest is a past President and they now have decided to join our chapter.; Welcome to you both.

Back to the meeting. Vicki announced that Belleek will be part of the St. Patrick's Day sales on QVC. Michele Jones was our member of the year and was given a commemorative plate. The April meeting will be in Tavares on the 24th at O'Keefe's Irish Pub and Restaurant. The July meeting will be held in Delray Beach. Details will follow. John made a suggestion that we give a piece of Belleek to new members when they join. He also canvassed the group to see who didn't have a piece of black mark Belleek. His thoughts are that every member have at least one piece of black mark Belleek. He went on to suggest that we as a chapter should insure that after a member has been in the chapter for a year, they have a piece of black mark Belleek. There was no opposition to this idea.

Michele receiving her commemorative plate from Vicki

From there we went on to the auction. Items auctioned off this year were many Belleek pieces, a basket, cups and saucers, spills and vases, and other non Belleek items. The meeting ended about 3:30pm. In total there were 15 members at the meeting. A good turn out.

Treasurer's Report

We started the meeting with $523.76 in the treasury. Dues collected was $195.00. The auction net $688.00. Other Donations received through out the year was $145.00. This brings our donation to the Richard K. Degenhardt Scholarship Fund to $833.00 for 2010. A check in that amount will be sent to Linda Baird, Chairwoman of the fund. The balance in our treasury is $708.76. Thank you all for your generosity in maintaining our effort to support the RKD Scholarship Fund.

From time to time questions come up about the annual auction for the Richard K. Degenhardt Scholarship Fund and how the donations are used. I looked back through our old issues of the Collector and found the following.

It will be 10 years in August

On Aug. 31, 2000, Richard Kennedy Degenhardt, founder of the Belleek Collector's Society, died after a long, brave battle with cancer.

"We have lost a friend, the best known and best loved among Belleek Collectors. A well known author and collector of Belleek, Dick had been collecting and sharing his passion for Belleek since the late sixties. He and his wife Margaret made many trips to Ireland and traveled all over the world in search of Belleek. His knowledge increased and he became an expert on Belleek.

His expertise was one of the reasons, besides his charisma, that he was asked to establish a Belleek Collectors Society. Under his stewardship, our Collectors Society flourished. Dick published the first comprehensive book about Belleek in 1978 and in 1994 came out with an updated version of his Belleek: The Complete Collectors Guide and illustrated Reference. His first book is still fondly referred to as the "Belleek bible"."

From the Collector Volume 12 Number 1 (2001)

During the recent collectors tour of Ireland, the Pottery donated, for auction, a number of items for a contribution to a memorial for Richard Degenhardt. Last year, the Pottery also donated items to be auctioned at the Millennium Convention and monies collected from both auctions will be used to purchase unusual Belleek for the museum at the Pottery.

We put our heads together at the Pottery and tried to think how best to honor Dick. In both his books, he told the history of the Pottery, as we try to do through our museum, but we do have some holes in our display. Since we no longer have the facilities to reproduce Belleek stone ware and terra cotta ware, we would like to fill that void in our collection. The piece or pieces will be purchased and displayed in memory of Dick Degenhardt, and hopefully, in the not too distant future, we will have a complete display case dedicated to Dick.

From the Collector Volume 12 Number 3 (2001)

Just over a year ago, Richard Degenhardt, one of the founders of the Belleek Collectors Society passed away. During this past year several things were done to recognize Dick's accomplishments in the area of Belleek collecting. A memorial plaque, referencing Dick s love of the townspeople and their craft, was placed on the clock in the square in the village of Belleek. Shown below are some of the attendees at that ceremony which was held August 30th, 2001.

As an ongoing and living memorial, Linda Beard, 1999 Belleek Hall of Fame Honoree, has established a scholarship, entitled the Richard K. Degenhardt Belleek Collector's Scholarship. At the BC1S Convention, in Toronto, Linda announced that the scholarship award was to be given on an annual basis to an outstanding student in the area of porcelain and design and/or Celtic studies at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland. This particular scholarship is the first of its type for the University of Ulster, which has two of its four campuses located near the Belleek Pottery. The University of Ulster has a number of outstanding graduates including Belleek's Head of Design, Fergus Cleary and Managing Director John Maguire. The University of Ulster is proud to be the recipient of the Degenhardt Belleek Scholarship endowment and believes that the award will be able to advance the interest in Belleek porcelain as well as Celtic arts.

Degenhardt Belleek Scholarship Committee members are Linda Beard, Gene Krach and Angela Moore. At the convention, Gene Krach, Honoree 1991, discussed the tax benefits that would be afforded to contributors and encouraged everyone to participate.

Angela Moore, BCIS president, on behalf of the Belleek Pottery, announced that the Pottery had produced a pearlized version of the Degenhardt Basket to be auctioned at the convention. The only other pearlized version of the Degenhardt Basket belongs to Mrs. Margaret Degenhardt and was specially produced at the request of her late husband. The funds raised through the basket's sale would go to the Degenhardt Belleek Scholarship. The basket's new owner, Canadian Val Fleming, paid $6,000 for it.

Linda Beard, 1999 Belleek Honoree and Chair of the Degenhardt Belleek Scholarship Committee, tells us that funds for the award are coming in from both individuals and BCIS chapters and the committee has received well over half of what is needed to fund the endowment.

Pictures of the basket are in the Collector Volume 12 Number 3.

I hope this answers the question and that we will be able to support the scholarship fund in the years to come.