2025 L.I.D.C.A. Waterfowl Collectables Show & Duck Boat Exhibition Long Island, NY

Anthony Babich

Active member
Supporter
Hey All, it’s hard to believe but already that time of the year once again!
Myself, Steve Sanford and many many others from the Long Island Decoy Collectors Association will once again be hosting the 53rd annual Antique Decoy & Sporting Collectables Show with the attached 3rd annual Duck Boat Exhibition & 2nd Annual Model Duck Boat Display.
SATURDAY- MARCH 8, 2025 9:00AM-4:00PM 370 MOTOR PARKWAY - HAUPPAGUE, NY
-General Admission $10.00 / Entry Ticket Purchased On-Site

We have already received an overwhelming response thus far for interest in the show and look forward to another greatly successful event sharing the passions, traditions and preservation of the waterfowling world we all enjoy.

This 2025 event we have a main event focus on Wildfowler & Herter’s Factory Fowl of The 1940’s. 50’s & 60’s. Presented by: Steve Sanford, Craig Kessler, & Ted Sadleir.

This combination of companies has its roots in the very beginnings of LIDCA. Two groups had the idea for a collecting club at about the same time. Out East, Malcolm Fleming and Ron McGrath and others would convene at Rab Staniford’s Wildfowler factory in Quogue. Up West - as Ronnie Bauer told in On the Falling Tide - he met Bud Ward when Ronnie noticed some Herter’s decoys in Bud’s gunning boat at Ronnie’s Amoco station. They later teamed up with George Combs and others. Late Summer “conventions” at bay houses led to plans for a decoy association. Perhaps more important, almost every Long Island waterfowler active in these decades was familiar with both makes – and often shot over them. Of course, the Herter’s Model 72 Bluebill decoy became the “industry standard” for Long Island Broadbill gunning.

This will be another fantastic display of history and we look forward to sharing it all with you here among the DuckBoat.net family!

I wanted to pass along some show information, registration info and of course images that can describe so much more.

If you are interested in registering for a table, becoming a member or supporting please contact us anytime at: LongIslandDecoyCollectors@Gmail.com

*We will accept an unlimited number of registrations, please note the following:

-General Admission $10.00 / Entry Ticket (Boat Registrations Cover Entry Fee For Those Participants)

-Duck Boats - $20 Registration Fee (For Sale Boats Welcomed!)

-Model Duck Boats $5 Registration Fee


We would like to thank this years many sponsors of the show who have provided us with an array of raffle prizes, donations, advertising exposure & more!

The Duck Boat Company, Bankes Boats, Water Feather Boats, Ducks Unlimited, Delta Waterfowl, Field & Stream Magazine, EZ-Deeks, Jimmy Autin Miniature Boats, Keith Littlejohn, The Great South Bay Society, Island Outdoors Productions LLC & Many More!

WEBSITE: LiDecoyCollectors.com

DUCK-BOAT EXHIBITION REGISTRATION:
2025 Duck Boat Exhibition Registration

MODEL DUCK BOAT REGISTRATION: 2025 Model Duck Boat Showcase Registration

The 2024 Event Video: 2024 Show Event HD


Here's a few images of last years event!

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Anthony~

The excitement builds - one month from tomorrow! (and LOTS of work still for you and me and the rest of the LIDCA team). Although I would usually post these photos on the Work Bench thread - I thought I would show them here as I painted them for our exhibits.

Herter's Model Canada "Black Mallard"....
sm Herters Model Canada Black Mallard BEST.jpg



Wildfowler Superior Model Goldeneye...
sm WF - Goldeneye.jpg
Herter's Model 72 Bluebill.....(the first portrait I have painted of a foam decoy!)
sm Herters Model 72 Bluebill - for BANNER.jpg



Herter's Model Supreme Canada Goose.....
sm Herters Model Supreme Goose Feeder LF.jpg
Wildfowler Superior Model Mallard....
sm Wildfowlers Superior Mallard Drake - Watercolor FINAL RF.jpg

Back to the drawing board.....

SJS
 
I'm very jealous of you fellows on the east coast! A typical gathering of Minnesota duck hunters usually involves Bingo or some sort of Meat Raffle. I am looking forward to our Ducks Unlimited State Convention next week however. Richard
 
Well, another show has come & gone yet this 2025 Exhibition was one of the best one's yet in the event's 53 years! Special thanks to all our members, volunteers, Vendors, Sponsors & guests! We truly appreciate all the hard-work and look forward to 2026! This year was a special one as we remembered L.I.D.C.A. Former President & Longtime member George C. Munkert III. It was an honor to pay tribute to his life alongside the loving Munkert family. Thank you to all for the warm thoughts, support and endless love while in attendance. Our 3rd Annual Duck Boat Exhibition and 2nd Annual Model Boat Show were equally successful as well! We have hundreds of images being released this week follow along with us #LIDecoyCollectors & Visit us: LIDecoyCollectors.com


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Show Event Images Below, Full Album: The 2025 Sporting Collectables Show LIDCA with a great insight on the wide-variety of vendors, decoys, Steven Jay Sanford's Herter's & Wildfowl Decoy Showcase, Guest Speakers Dave Diefenderfer, Steve Sanford, Craig Kessler, along with our 2nd Annual Model Duck Boat Exhibition won by Frank C. who generously donated the winning boat made by artist Jimmy Autin! Outside, we showcased our 3rd annual DUCK BOAT EXHIBITION! 1st place winner Hal Truhn won with his Aero-Marine Custom Sneakboat, 2nd Place: James S. TDB Widgeon Sneakboat and 3rd Mike- Custom Duckboat made in Vermont! Excellent show with sooooo many diverse boats, items, decoys etc..

I brought along my 1932 Benjamin Hallock Scooter paired up with a 1953 Evinrude Ducktwin 3hp! Made a nice display along with some vintage Balsa Wildfowlers hunted in NY estimated in the 1940's with custom carrying box. I also displayed for (TDB) The Duck Boat Company where we had many models on hand featuring the 14' Seaclass, 17' Seaclass, Widgeon & rare TDB-10 Model.

Thanks to all those who continue to support the club & got some great ideas in mind for 2026! See you then...

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Anthony what a great show from the displays to the vendors and duck boats. I had such a nice time talking with the guys and gals. I even picked up four Al McCormick decoys as well. Thank you for the invite and to all the staff for putting on a top notch show. I was honored and very suprised to say the least.
Hal
 
Anthony~

Thanks for all great images! I was so busy that I never even brought my camera. I left it at my Mom's in East Islip. I usually photograph our whole Exhibit, with portaits of each little section - but "no go" this year. It seems we were in Plan B mode the whole Show.

I was also very glad to be able to help you judge the duckboats. Lots of fine vessels - and was glad to give Hal Truhn the top spot. As we saw, he gave attention to every part of his rig. His metal-working skills - which I envy - added some very nice touches to the all-important trailer.

One thing we did accomplish was to get some photographs for Steve Jendricks. Steve could not make it to the Show, but - thanks to Craig Kessler - his spirit was there. Here's the "table tale" Craig wrote for one particular Wildfowler Superior Model Mallard.

AN HONORABLE RETURN FLIGHT

Back in the 1960’s, when I was in high school, I had the great privilege of working as a guide at the South Side Sportsman’s Club in Oakdale.

Duck shooting was conducted on the 3,000 acre property of the SSSC at nine different blind locations spaced along the length of the main river, and the east brook as well. The location known as East Brook Blind was but a short distance in from Pond Path, the public road which ran along the eastern property line of the Club property. A wooded lane came in from Pond Path to the site of Slade Pond and East Brook. Each blind was cared for by a guide who often stashed his small cache of 4-6 wooden decoys in a burlap sack behind the blind. All the decoys were well-made, most of them being either Wildfowlers or Masons. Some years later when I was away in college, but before the club ceased to exist in 1974, and unbeknownst to me, it seems an inquisitive young waterfowler who lived in Oakdale on the opposite side of Pond Path, decided to go exploring and in the process made off with the burlap sack containing 4 Wildfowler decoys.

Turns out that I came to know this man as a friend and fellow south shore waterfowler. Then one evening in 2022 at a LI Decoy Club Meeting, I was approached by this kind fellow, who revealed to me his escapade and said “if anyone should have these, it should be you”, as I remain today one of the few living gents who had the privilege of using these very decoys at the South Side Sportsman’s Club.

This Wildfowler Drake Mallard, now with a Steve Sanford restored paint job, was one of those classic decoys I had handled some 55 years earlier.

Craig Kessler



So, Craig and I made sure to get some photos for Steve. Dave Diefenderder took the shots.

sm Jendricks BEST of SJS and CWK - CROPPED.jpg

Steve's wife had re-painted this old decoy in a "fanciful" style. He lived on a coffee table and no longer bore any resemblance to either a real Mallard or a real Wildfowler. Craig asked me to restore it - not to original condition - but how it might have looked whilst still a working decoy.

sm Jendricks 5 CROPPED.jpg

I have mailed the story and these photos off to Steve - and hope to visit him soon.

In preparing for this Show over the past year, I have learned a lot about Herter's - and even treated myself to a few birds I had not owned or grown up with. These Model Supremes were made in the early 40s. They are life-size birds with wooden heads. They have relatively flat and wide bodies with wooden keels. Some have suggested that Herter's "borrowed" the concept from Wildfowler - probably from the East Coast decoy competitions at that time. I bought the Drake many months ago but the Hen was a recent find. She arrived a few days after the Show. They both now grace one of the window shelves in our living room. Her head and neck - although the same model - are much more elegant than her partner's. (Sticklers will note that Herter's incorrectly painted the Hen's speculum Green. In fact, Hen Pintails have a Brown speculum - the only NA duck species where the Drakes differ from the Hens.)

sm Model Supreme Pintail Pair CROPPED.JPG

Now the think about the 2026 Show......

All the best,

SJS
 
Steven
Thank you for putting on a great show, it was quite the honor. I really enjoyed being there, and participating in the boat show. Since I restored the boat things have always come up and kept me from entering it. Actually I didn't think I was going to make this event do to my wife was in the hospital with a ankle complication from a surgery. She was the one who encouraged me to go. I would of loved to of stayed for the entire day. I probably would of picked up some more decoys and sat in on the seminars. There's always next year.
Thanks again
Hal
 
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