Golden Gate Corkscrew Collectors Past Meetings

Golden Gate Corkscrew Collectors'

Past Events
Since November 1999

April 6 & 7, 2002 Meeting

California Gold Country--Sierra Foothills

Hosted by

Dick & Phyllis Neumann & George & Gail Perry

Our home base for this meeting was at the Rancheria Hotel, Casino & Conference Center in Jackson, California where forty attendees from the bay area and as far away as Maryland and Connecticut gathered for the beautuful Spring time weekend.

Syroco figural corkscrews were the theme for this meeting, where George Perry displayed a nearly complete collection of the standing Syroco full-bodied corkscrews just after the Saturday night dinner at the Rancheria Hotel. Dean Walters gave a talk about the history of Syroco, or Syracuse Ornamental Company which opened in Syracuse, New York in 1890. Fred O'Leary brought a Syroco figual corkscrew which is illustrated in one of the Syroco product catalogs, but to our knowledge has not been seen before--titled 'The Hobo' in the catalog. It is one of the designs that does not include the body, but just the head & shoulders, and corkscrew with the cap-lifter bell.

On Saturday we enjoyed a vip tour & picnic lunch at Renwood Winery, which is just a short distance from Jackson. This event was hosted by Antoine Songy, who is now the chief sales rep for the winery. Renwood is known for producing especially high quality Zinfandels, some from vines over one hundred years old. Antoine moved out here last December to take the position. Some may recall that Antoine and his father Phillipe hosted a fantastic meeting for the Canadian Corkscrew Collectors Club in Saumur, France a couple of years ago.

Fred Kincaid, Fred O'Leary & Kathleen Cinelli (of Merisoft, Inc.) enlightened us with a talk on SCREWBASE 1.0 and CORKSCREW COLLECTOR 3.0, the latest software for corkscrew collecting computer users, as well as updates on the new corkscrew classification system.

On Sunday, we gathered for an open house at George & Gail Perry's. George's collection is beautifully displayed in a building which he designed and built especially for his corkscrews. George & Gail gave tours of their family's produce brokering business nearby, and George proudly showed his collection of exotic cars.

All in all we had a terrific two days, thanks to the Neumanns and Perrys.

November 10, 2001 Meeting

Oakville & Napa, Napa Valley

Hosted by

Jack & Mary Lou Hamilton

Early scene of Napa Valley published for Beringer Bros. Vineyards circa 1906

Jack & Mary Lou Hamilton hosted this terrific meeting in Napa Valley on Saturday, starting the day at their lovely Oakville home in the foothills above the Mondavi Winery. A buffet lunch with wine was served, and our traditional 'buy/sell/trade' and 'show & tell' was enjoyed into the afternoon. We had our formal meeting & dinner at the Chanterelle Restaurant in Napa that evening. Our theme for 'show & tell' was Thomason corkscrews & Thomason variants.

At the Hamilton's in Oakville's western foothills

Photos compliments of Ed Bystran

Many of the thirty-five attendees stayed over for the weekend to enjoy the many delights that Napa Valley has to offer.

Hugh Douglas from Kensington was generous in volunteering to host the Meeting for the Fall of 2002 in the east bay.

April 29, 2001 Meeting

Hosted by Fred & Sue O'Leary and Raj & Justine Kanodia

At the David Bruce Winery & the O'Leary's

The O'Leary's & Kanodias put together a fabulous meeting for Sunday, April 29th at the David Bruce Winery in the Santa Cruz mountains, included a catered lunch buffet complimented with David Bruce's fine wines. Forty five enthusiasts attended the meeting, with collectors coming from as far away as England, southern California, eastern Canada, and our east coast. The 'show & tell' featured a French 'Laguiole' theme, and Justine presented a brief history of the production of corkscrews & knife-corkscrews in Laguiole and other nearby towns which produced early as well as contemporary cutlery items that bear the Laguiole marks..

Our 'buy/trade/sell' was a great success with both dealers and collectors offering a fine selection of corkscrews. Corkscrew specialty dealers from afar and near set up to offer their best, including David Weston from England, Patricia Trachta from Laguna Niguel, and Dean Walters from San Anselmo.

High in the Santa Cruz Mountains, just a few miles from Los Gatos, David Bruce's Winery provided a lovely setting for the meeting. Lunch was served on the terrace with a breathtaking view overlooking the mountainside vineyards and canyons below. David, an enthusiastic vintner and charming winery host, addressed our gathering, and spoke of his motivation and inspiration for starting the winery in the 1960's. To compliment lunch he opened two different examples of his fine Pinot Noirs, as well as a Chardonnay and a delicious Petite Syrah. Everyone was truly impressed with the quality of his wines, as well as with the beautiful winery and its setting.

Following events at the winery was an open house at the O'Leary home in Cupertino where we were treated to a viewing of Fred's fine collection of corkscrews featuring U.S. patents, but not lacking an interesting variety of rare and charming examples from Europe. That ended a memorable day in the south bay, with plans afoot for our next meetings in Napa Valley for November of this year, and the Sierra Mountain foothills gold country for the Spring of 2002.

Credit goes to Ed Bystran, co-host of the fabulous Carmel Valley meeting last November, for the photos. He has posted a page of photos of this April 29th event as well as of the Carmel Valley meeting. Just click on the following link to see the photos:

http://photos.yahoo.com/ggcorkscrew

November 4 & 5, 2000 Meeting

Carmel Valley

Hosted by Bill Eyres and Ed & Sharon Bystran.

A fabulous event in a heavenly setting, this meeting started off on Saturday morning with a fascinating tour of corkscrew manufacturer and distributor Franmara Inc in Salinas. Frank Chiorazzi & his sister Claudette Casella, owners of Franmara, entertained us with wine & a look at a their truly interesting business which they have personally operated since 1970. Franmara specializes not only in corkscrews but features a great variety of wine accessories.

A record 44 attended this meeting which continued Saturday evening at the Corkscrew Cafe in Carmel Valley. The evening commenced in the beautiful garden of Georis Winery's tasting room (just next door to the Corkscrew Cafe) with our 'show & tell' and 'buy/sell/trade' before dinner. Waiters corkscrews were featured during 'show & tell', and proved to offer a great diversity of patents and designs.

No coincidence that Walter Georis owns both the Corkscrew Cafe as well as the Georis Winery. Walter made us feel like guests in his home, and satiated us with wines and fine food prepared by his chef Wendy Little, before and during our dinner meeting.

Corkscrew collectors came from great distances to attend this event--from British Columbia, the east coast, and southern California. Collectors from outside of the San Francisco Bay area are always welcome at our meetings.

Our brief meeting following dinner decided the hosts for the 2001 venues. Fred & Sue O'Leary and Raj & Justine Kanodia will host the April meeting in Cupertino. Jack & Mary Lou Hamilton will host the November meeting in Napa Valley!

Sunday was a fine finale to the weekend when Bill Eyres hosted the GGCC to an open house at his lovely home in Prunedale. Bill & Ed exhibited their corkscrew collections, and plied us with more great food & wine through the afternoon, but leaving us with an appetite for more great events like this.

Many thanks to Bill, Ed & Sharon for a great weekend!

Ed Bystran has posted some great photos of this event on the web. Click on the following link to take a look. You can order prints from his selection too:

GGCC Carmel Vallley Meeting Photos

In Franmara's display room, from left to right:
Bill Eyres, Jack Hamilton, Bill Ghio & John Morris.
photo by Ed Bystran

Spring 2000 Meeting at the

Viognier Restaurant
San Mateo, California
April 7th, 2000

Evening Events

The second meeting of the GGCC, held at the Viognier Restaurant, was another smashing success. Twenty-seven collectors and their significant others attended the meeting hosted by Bob & Susan Bortfeld of Saratoga.

A Special Guest & Display!

These three examples from Roger Baker's collection were just the tip of the iceberg!

We were fortunate to have collector Roger Baker attending and showing some of his fine collection at the April meeting. It is a rare opportunity to see corkscrews of this beauty and quality first hand. Roger did not disappoint us, as he treated us to a show of his impressive collection of finely carved ivory handled corkscrews, and some stunning corkscrews produced by the famous 19th Century San Francisco cutlers Will & Finck, J H Schintz and Michael Price. Roger has been collecting for over thirty years!

Before dinner, our social evening started with delectable canapes complimented with lovely California wines, while some attendees tempted others with a selection of corkscrews for sale or trade. Consequently quite a few lightened their wallets, but added nicely to their collections.

A great Dinner with fine wines, dessert and coffee followed, culminating with a meeting and discussion of future events.

Total cost per person for the evening at Viognier Restaurant--a reasonable $100. Many thanks to Bob and Susan, as well as to Roger Baker, for a fabulous evening.

The Inaugural GGCC
November 1999 meeting

At the renowned landmark Jack's Restaurant in San Francisco

A scene at Jack's in the 19th Century

Established in 1864, Jack's is San Francisco's oldest restaurant in its original location,
coincidentally in Will & Finck's original neighborhood--now the financial district.

..............................................

Our first meeting on November 5th, 1999 at Jack's Restaurant was a great success, hosted by Dean Walters & Stephanie Blythe of San Anselmo, and Fred & Sue O'Leary of Cupertino. It was attended by 33 collectors and their significant others. Collectors came from as far north as Vancouver, British Columbia, and as far south as Los Angeles.

The evening started with wine and canapes while attendees enjoyed displays of corkscrews manufactured by the famous cutlers of San Francisco such as Will & Finck, Michael Price and J.H. Schintz. A display of pre-prohibition California winery advertising corkscrews and related ephemera was also displayed by Dean Walters. Tables were available for people to exhibit corkscrews for sale or trade. The sumptuous dinner that followed was beautifully prepared by Jack's talented chef, Geoffrey Blythe, then dinner was followed with our first meeting and discussion for future events.

Want to join us?

To express your interest in attending future meetings of the GGCC, please contact either:

Dean Walters, Tel (415) 459-6393
or email: dean.w@comcast.net

Fred O'Leary, Tel (408) 996-3101 Fax (408) 255-0740
or email: fsoleary@comcast.net

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