Keepsaker’s Korner

Next Meeting is Thursday August 8 at 7:00 pm

OKCC meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month (except for this month!). We meet at Becky’s Hallmark, 11109 E 41st (northwest corner of 41st & Garnett, next to Furr’s).  Next month’s meeting will be September  12th.

At the August Meeting….

For this month’s program we are going to have our mystery gift exchange.  Bring a nice wrapped present!  

Community Service

Domestic Violence Intervention Service – We’re bringing school supplies again this time.

Food Bank – remember to bring your food items.  They will go to Broken Arrow Neighbors unless someone volunteers to bring them somewhere else.

It’s dues time again

It’s a new club year and it’s time to pay dues again.  If you are receiving you newsletter on the internet, I will email you a membership form.  If you get a hardcopy newsletter, the form is enclosed.

Happy August Birthday to ….

Okie Keepsakers Meeting Minutes     July 12, 2002

President Rita Randall called the meeting to order and welcomed all the visitors that were attending.  Rita said that she had copies made of the club brochure so that they could be given out at Premiere.  She and Teresa also donated small Hallmark items to put in a packet along with copies of the newsletter and brochure to be given out to potential club members.

Vice President Dana Blando reminded everyone to sign the sign-in sheet and get their tickets for the food donations. 

Treasurer Sally Turner read the Treasurer’s report:

$   649.27+        Beginning balance

     251.00+       White elephant auction

       52.85-        table purchased for Becky’s

       20.50-        printing of club brochures

        9.25-         July Postage   

     817.67+       Ending balance

Secretary Teresa Pattison didn’t have anything to report.

Sponsor news – Becky didn’t have any new news. 

DVIS chairperson, Debra Kirk said that we will bring school supplies again next month.

Sunshine Committee chairperson Terri Legrand said that she send a card to Sally Turner.

Hospitably committee – Cris Converse ask for volunteers for next month and the following people volunteered:  Dana Blando, Rita Randall, and Teresa Pattison

Program committee – Donna gave a wrap up of the past year programs.  Next month will be mystery gift exchange.

Old business – Rita reminded members to get their club ornament if they haven’t already.  And thanks to Elaine for getting the other table.

New business – It time for elections of officers.  Thanks to all who volunteered:

·         Program committee – Kay Schwartz

·         Hospitality committee – Cris Converse

·         Sunshine committee – Terri Legrand

·         DVIS committee – Debra Kirk

·         Treasurer – Sally Turner

·         Secretary – Dessie Howard

·         Newsletter committee – Teresa Pattison

·         Vice President – Dana Blando

·         President - Rita Randall

The club also voted to keep Becky’s as the sponsor.

Door prize drawings:

            $25 monthly gift certificate –  Teresa Pattison

            $25 year-end gift certificate – Connie Poppy

            Snoopy figurine (2^nd quarter mailing from Hallmark) – Sandy Guinn

            Mary Engelbreit magazines from Dessie – Sally Turner and Dana Blando

            Mary Beth Beanie Magazine from Becky’s – Dessie

Congratulations Joanie!

Congratulations to club member Joanie Owle who got married at the end of June.  I neglected to write down Joanie’s new name so I’ll let you know that next month.

Condolences

Condolences to Earline Kennon on the death of her husband Ed.  Please sign an organ donor card!

Condolences to Sally and Lynn Turner, and Jackie Hensley on the death Sally’s mother and Lynn and Jackie’s mother-in-law, Frances Henley.

Hallmark News

Did you notice in the Dream Book that The Wedding Barbie that will Premeiere in October will come in 3 different hair colors.  Rumor has it that it will come 6 to a wholesale pack and in each 6 pack there will be 3 Brunette, 2 Blondes and ONE Redhead.  The good news is that it comes in a windowpane box so we don't have to open every one to find a redhead!

Looks like there were production problems with Love, Hope and Joy ornaments. That’s why they were very hard to find at Premiere.  They will be coming soon!

Remember the ABC Dinotopia miniseries back in May?  In early October, there is going to be a new Television series!  Hallmark Gold Crown stores are going to have Dinotopia plush that come in a Dinosaur Egg.

What ornaments did you love at Premiere???

Let me know your thoughts about the new ornaments!  What did you love? What did you hate? What did you buy after you saw it in person but didn’t care for in the Dream Book?  Jot down your thoughts and give me a list of your 10 favorite new ornaments and I will put them in the next newsletter.  Email me at [email protected] or if you don’t have internet access, do it the old fashioned way on a piece of paper and give them to me at the meeting. 

1995 Expo Volunteer ornament

Did you volunteer at the 1995 Expo here in Tulsa? Remember getting the personalized billboard ornament "Worlds Greatest Volunteer EXPO '95 Tulsa”?  There are a couple of people on the internet looking to collect these ornaments.  If you want to sell yours, let me know and I’ll put out the word that there is one for sale.

Premiere Winnings

I sent out an email to club members wanting to know those who won a prize at Premiere.  And here they are!

·         Rita Randall - $30 gift certificate

·         Elaine Wibben won the Mary’s Angel colorway.  Larry Wibben won a Sweet Treats

·         Alice Sandkuhl won the Sugar Plum Fairies and Don Sandkuhl won the Jewelry Box Ballet.

·         Terri Legrand won 2 Bringing Home The Tree ornaments and 1 Joyful Noise that she  wanted to throw across the room and bash into small little pieces due to the difficulty of unscrewing the teensy-tinsy-itty-bitty screw on her back!!!!!!!!!!

·         Dessie & Tommy Howard won 2 A Joyful Noise, 2 Sweet Tooth Treats, Antique Tractor, First Snow.

·         Kay Schwartz won Bringing Home The Tree.

·         Connie Poppe won Mary's Angel - Willow and the Let it Snow.

·         Vickie Greenwade won the $100 gift certificate from Sherman’s at the Farm and also Antique Tractor, A Joyful Noise, and Sugar Plum Fairies.

·         BK Dreyer reports that Marc won the Bringing Home The Tree and her daughter won the Antique Tractor.  She is looking to buy the Mary's Angels. (Note to BK – check out Dana’s winnings!)

·         Bobbi Tessandori won A Joyful Noise.

·         Dana Blando won A Joyful Noise, Antique Tractor, and 3 Mary’s Angels Willow.  Dana also wants a First Snow and will trade one of her many Willows!

·         Teresa Pattison won Willow, First Snow, A Joyful Noise, and Sweet Tooth Treats.

And here is what we have to look forward to for register-to-wins at the October debut!

·         Peace (blown glass part of Perfect Harmony)

·         Yuletide Santa (part of Memories of Christmas)

·         Baby Candessa (Frostlight Fairie Too)

·         Dreams Have Wings (part of Between Us...)

·         Blessings and Family (part of Family Tree)

·         Set of Ten Memory Cards (they come signed by the artist with some trivia about that ornament)

·         Biplane Mini (colorway)

·         Snowbuddies (colorway)

Ty News

Retirements:               

7/17/02  Beanies: Pops and Liberty (all 3 versions).  Beanie Boppers: Dazzlin’ Destiny click here

7/25/02  Beanies: May, Rescue, Courage.  Buddies: Cheeks, Rescue, Courage, USA.  Attic Treasures:  Adelaide  click here         

7/29/02  Canadian exclusive Pierre Buddy.   Click here

7/31/02  Korean exclusive Mugungwha   click here

Introductions:

7/30/02   Beanies:  Pegasus the horse, September Birthday Bear, Sherbet the bear (in aqua, yellow & pink), Tooter the dinosaur, Zoom the turtle.     Buddies: Curly, Darling  

click here for a link of all the current Ty products including the new releases.

In September 2002, the new 2002 BBOC Kit will be available for purchase at authorized Ty Retailers.

By George, it's a new Christmas ornament

Posted on Fri, Jul. 19, 2002  The Kansas City Star,  By HEARNE CHRISTOPHER JR.  Columnist

Once upon a time it was all George. Then came Joe.

Now we're back to George again.

As evidenced by the world of holiday ornaments, according to Cowtowner Wynn Ferrel, owner of eight (count 'em) area Hallmark shops.

A handful of years back the F Man helped preside over the Joe Montana Christmas ornament phenomena. Star classified ads that holiday season were brimming with high-buck bids for the Big Chief wearing his red Chiefs uniform.

"It was 1996," Ferrel recollects. "Joe in the Chiefs uniform was the rare ornament and, of course, Kansas City was just nuts about Joe at that time."

Now Ferrel is braced for what he hopes may be an even more ostentatious ornament overload with a George Brett ornament.

"People will want this ornament more because they feel George Brett is a part of this community," he says. "There still is a love affair with George Brett in this town because he made a choice to stay in Kansas City. He's one of us."

What to expect from Big George's $14.95 list price likeness, due out in October?

"He's in a batting stance. Like he's getting ready to cork one. And I will tell you, if you look carefully, just about his upper hand you will see pine tar."

Brett lotto

Posted on Thu, Jul. 25, 2002 The Kansas City Star, By HEARNE CHRISTOPHER JR.  Columnist

Cowtowners who opt to purchase their George Brett holiday ornaments from one of Wynn Ferrel's eight area Hallmark shops this October will get a shot at another schmooze.

"George was nice enough to sign some jerseys for us," Ferrel says. "He's signing other things for other Hallmark retailers, but we're going to give away authentic -- just like the players wear -- George Brett-signed jerseys in each of our stores."

Brett's tree dangler will join another popular-in-Missouri Hallmark issue this year, the Kurt Warner St. Louis Rams ornament. But how is it St. Louisans can buy their sports hero ornaments now and Kansas Citians must wait?

"Major League Baseball will not allow the ornament to be sold until after the season is over," Ferrel says. "My guess is they don't want it to detract from their ability to sell (their) merchandise during the season."

Another thoughtful touch by the folks who gave us the New York Yankees payroll and ties at the All Star Game.

Notorious Net thief pleads guilty

By Bob Sullivan  MSNBC

July 8 —  Jay Nelson, the man hundreds of Internet auction users learned to hate last year, pleaded guilty onday to several counts of wire and mail fraud. Nelson, once calling “the Internet’s John Dillinger,” spent 13 months scamming over 1,700 eBay and Yahoo auction users, netting more than $200,000.

NELSON USED DOZENS of fake personas he created on eBay and Yahoo, and multiple accounts on online payment service PayPal, to dupe auction users. The fraud was simple: accept payment from an auction winner and never deliver the merchandise.

Nelson was first charged with fraud in February 2001, but skipped his arraignment in New Hampshire. He then spent six months on the run as a wanted fugitive, moving from hotel to hotel, funding his escapades by committing more fraud. Eventually, he was placed on the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Most Wanted list.

Nelson was finally nabbed after he was recognized by an alert coin shop owner, Ann Fettig. Nelson had been using her Kissimme, Fla., store to sell gold coins as part of his money laundering scheme. Fetig heard a local radio station discussing an MSNBC.com story about the Nelson manhunt and called the authorities.

She is a very conscientious person,” said Michael Gunnison, supervisor of the white collar section of the U.S. Attorney’s office in New Hampshire. “She won’t purchase coins unless someone produces their real driver’s license. And here, he’s probably saying ‘What’s the chance she’s going be plugged in?’ Well, she wasn’t at first. Then she heard the radio program.”

NABBED AT COIN STORE

Nelson was arrested almost exactly a year ago, after Fetig called the Postal Inspection office, saying she had their man. On July 11, when Fettig arrived to unlock the door of her coin store, Nelson was already waiting outside. So were U.S. Marshals.

It all happened rather quick,” she told MSNBC.com last year. “I unlocked the door and held it open. Instead of Nelson coming in, the marshal went flying out with gun drawn and said, ‘Jay, get on the ground!’ I wish I could have seen the look on Jay’s face, but all I could see was the gun. Then he was spread-eagled on the ground, and the marshal frisked him. [Nelson] kept saying, ‘I’m not going anywhere.’ ”

Nelson’s long history of alleged Net-based scamming began in Illinois in 1998 — the Illinois Attorney General’s office filed a complaint against Nelson and his wife, Krista, for online auction fraud in 2000. But by then, he had already moved to Gilsum, N.H., where he began a new string of scams that would eventually lead to Monday’s guilty plea.

In June of 2000, he christened an eBay account called “harddrives4sale.” Using that name, he scammed 247 people out of $32,000, according to Monday’s guilty plea.

He continued creating fake personas and running more scams until January of last year, when federal authorities filed a criminal complaint against him with the U.S. District Court in New Hampshire.  Soon after, Nelson went on the run.

MANY PAYPAL ACCOUNTS

By the time he’d moved to Florida last summer, Nelson knew federal authorities were watching his various bank accounts for activity. So when he defrauded an auction user, he had the victim pay using PayPal. He then transferred the money through various PayPal accounts. But even then, he couldn’t withdraw any of the money into a bank account — so he traded PayPal funds for gold coins, which he then pawned for cash.

 “When they found him in Florida, he said he was tired of running,” Gunnison said. Nelson will be sentenced in October. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Nelson should be sentenced to about 5 years in jail, Gunnison said.   

While the U.S. Attorney’s office has attempted to contact victims for restitution, many can’t be found, Gunnison said. Many others have already been reimbursed by PayPal.   

Despite the prosecution of Nelson and other Net criminals, auction site fraud is still on the rise, said U.S. postal inspector Tom Higgins. Just last week, MSNBC.com revealed a set of more complex frauds involving Western Union payments and even the creation of fake escrow or shipping sites.    

“The number of complaints have increased,” Higgins said. “But from when all this started going on in 2000, both eBay and PayPal have evolved and made great strides. They are good companies that have put a lot of controls in place.”

Club hopes hobby lasts for the young

Collectors find pieces of history one postcard picture at a time.

By John Fritze  The Indianapolis Star  July 23, 2002

Joe Seiter prefers to collect history in small pieces -- the kind that carried a stamp and were once dropped in the mail.

For 35 years he has tucked away vintage postcards that show Indianapolis the way it once was -- horse-drawn carriages and long-gone high schools -- amassing a picture of the city's history few still remember.

"People are continually looking for something tangible, something of value, something they can relate to," said Seiter, president of the Indianapolis Postcard Club.

"A postcard is the only tangible proof that a person, place or thing existed."

But the cards, black and white photos of unsmiling faces and colorful prints of American Indians, can carry history only as long as collectors are around to trade and covet them.

Given the age of most enthusiasts, and modern distractions that lure away younger generations, there is some concern about what will become of the hobby. Now, collectors who have spent much of their free time thinking about history are wondering about the future.

"We call it the graying of collecting clubs," said Larry Krug, with the National Association of Collectors, adding that computer and television screens now vie for young eyes the way coins and stamps used to.

Before the Internet, even before widespread use of the telephone, postcards were an important communication device. Their collection in the United States began at the turn of the century, and, in some corners of Indiana, a postcard dropped off in the morning would be delivered that afternoon.

The hobby re-emerged here in the late 1970s; the club was formed and membership increased to about 130. Today, the local club has 85 followers.

"It's fun when you find one that you don't have," said Harley Sheets, 67, who has collected nearly 600 postcards of Indiana's high schools and has an overall collection near 20,000. "It's like finding an Easter egg when you were a kid."

About a dozen collectors gather every month in the basement of the Seventh and Eighth United Christian Church on West 30th Street to ogle new finds. This month, the buzz centered around one of Sheets' cards, a photograph of Pimento High School in Vigo County that was taken sometime before 1920.

The black-and-white picture shows a group of students standing in front of a horse and buggy, which presumably brought them to class. The quality is so high that other students are visible in the school's windows.

"That comes very close to being rare," said Seiter, 72, adding that "rare" is not a word he tosses around lightly.

While that card could sell for $40 or $50, most are worth $4 to $15. Unlike with other collections, the price of a postcard varies widely depending on personal taste. Most collectors are uninterested in the postmark or whatever faded writing rests on the back.

It is the mystery of the picture that drives collectors. Whether the scenes trace the architecture of a city or the evolution of the bicycle or two decades' worth of all-state basketball teams, they draw viewers into a history rarely thought of anymore.

For that reason, Seiter said, he hopes the hobby will live on.

"The majority of us are older people," he said. "When we old bugs die out, what will happen remains to be seen."

eBay rolls out new fixed-price format

Mon Jul 22, 6:54 PM ET

SAN JOSE, California - Internet trading leader eBay Inc. increased its shift toward fixed-price sales Monday by launching a new format that lets buyers and sellers skip traditional auctions entirely.

EBay, which began as an auction-only site, already facilitates instant sales of items, both through Half.com, a site it acquired in 2000, and through the "Buy It Now" option, which accounts for one-third of all items listed on eBay.

With "Buy it Now," sellers can list an item at a set price, and the sale ends if someone offers to pay that price. If someone enters a bid below that price, the "Buy It Now" option is canceled, and the sale turns into a regular auction.

Buy It Now will remain, but now sellers have another option: selling their items at a fixed price, with no auction entering the picture under any circumstances. Either the product sells for the listed price or not at all.

The move had been requested by users who wanted a true fixed-price format, eBay spokesman Kevin Pursglove said.

The refinement also figures to appeal to traditional retailers and other companies that are increasingly unloading products on eBay.

Disney, Motorola to Make Mickey Radios, Phones

Tue Jul 23, 2:33 PM ET

BURBANK, Calif. (Reuters) - Don't be surprised if next time you call your kids you're greeted by a talking rodent or an intergalactic defender.

The Walt Disney Co. on Tuesday said it entered a deal with Motorola Inc. to make two-way radios and cordless telephones featuring images and voices of characters such as Mickey Mouse and Buzz Lightyear.

The deal will also give wireless technology mammoth, Motorola, best known for its cell phones, access to the 6- to 12-year old age group, as its two-way radio group strikes its first such deal with an entertainment company like Disney.

The first products will include a radio sold in pairs with a two-mile range and phones with ringtones inspired by Disney characters. They are expected to be available in the United States and the United Kingdom in the fall, arriving just in time for the holiday season.

The global rollout will continue throughout 2003. Disney said it plans to expand its consumer electronics portfolio next Spring but did not elaborate.

The pastel-colored Princess and the red-and-yellow Mickey Mouse 2.4 GHz cordless phones models will carry a retail price of $59.99. They'll include a caller ID feature but it will require additional service through a phone company.

The phones' base will use a Disney character phrase to "page" the handset if misplaced within the household.

Cordless phones work through a main unit that is physically plugged in but allows the handset to be carried throughout the house as opposed to cellular phones, which are completely wireless and can be carried everywhere.

Motorola started shipping cordless phones, a new product for the company, out of its two-way radio group about a month ago. The phones are designed by Motorola but made by outsourcing firm CCT Tech in China, a unit of CCT Telecom Group.

The Chicago-based firm said its cordless phones are currently sold in the United States and on its Web site, but it planned to also sell them in Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.

The family radio service (FRS) two-way Disney radios, which also carry the Adventure model using the voice and catchy phrases of "Toy Story" character Buzz Lightyear, will sell for $59.99. They are compatible with all FRS radios and have extra features to reduce interference.