Westlake--Are you headed to Cleveland next month?

I'll chime in and say that I have been going to this show now for 5 years, missed last year, but I'm all set at the Westlake hotel with my room for 4 days this year. I have met many Duckboats.net friends in person on my trips north to go hunting, but by far, I have met more DB friends at Westlake than any other event. I remember our get-together on Saturday night two years ago with Hank and Lou and his wife, and Yukon Mike, Brian and his wife, Mark(Mo) and too many others to list. It was like coming home...like being with friends I've known my whole life. It is an experience you will never forget and the Westlake hotel is just the absolute perfect atmosphere for this event. Capt. Hackey got me started collecting decoys, and Hack and Duane and many others work their butts off to make it like home. I missed going so much last year that I knew that wasn't happening again. I can't wait. Please make the time to join us DB folks in a month in Westlake. Hitch
 
Last year was the first year attending the show and I loved it. I was by myself and drove over 9 hours to make it there and had a great time. Most shows you can see in a hour or 2 but not this show and the people make you feel right at home. It is a show that I look forward to now every year and hope that someday the Northeast Waterfowl Festival is half the show that Westlake is and will be.
Thanks Pete
 
So John mentioned that he'll be bringing some beer local to his area to the gathering Saturday night. I second that - I'll bring some UBU crafted by the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery and some eats that are local to upstate NY. We'll make this year better than ever...

Looking forward to seeing old friends and making new ones ... I'm coming this year with my wife, 2 friends and our 4 month old daughter - its gonna be a riot!!!!!

ZB
 
John,

To my wifes dismay - no... Because we're car pooling down with friends and now a "car seat" there just won't be room for the curly monster. Looking forward to catching up with you too.

Zach
 
Well if there is going to be a get together I will bring some Yooper cuisine. I really wish I would have had the guts to can or pickle some white suckers during the spring run last year. That would be high end to share with you guys. Unfortunately I did not so I will have to bring something a little more main stream. Ill need a bit of a head count though so I can place a pasty order.
 
I thought that I might post an update.

I received some very vicious emails from two of the Board members of the "other" club. I invited both to rebut my post on this forum but there haven't been any answers.

What is funny is that in a followup to his first email Ken Cole, see Ken I did use your name like you asked me to, laced his second tirade with vulgarities. He even took the time to change the font size and highlight the foul language with pretty colors.

I then got a similar email from Marty Hanson who is also listed as a board member in their new club. His email didn't use the vulgarities though. But he did repeatedly insult me. What's funny about him to me is that when I went to both Ken and Marty's room last year to introduce myself Marty shut the door in my face.

I chose not to engage either of them in a battle of sophomoric insults and I still won't. But I did forward all of them to my lawyer who happens to be my little sister and is a trial attorney in Maryland. She is the reason that my brother's ex-wife is living in a little condo and he got the big house and business. She is the reason that my son and his fiance are living rent free in Baltimore's Inner Harbor because their landlord would not fix the plumbing in the basement. Believe me guys you don't ever want to hear from my little sister.

You know when she graduated from Law School she did a genealogy on our Family heritage and found out we have Chinese ancestry. So she changed her name to

Sue Yu Now.

I'm going to print these emails and bring them with me so that anyone who would like can read what Ken and Marty wrote. You can be the judge of the quality of their character.

Do you know what I truly believe though? These guys really thought they were the focus of the Westlake show, and they are finding out that the show will go on without them. The gaps that were left when they vacated those pool rooms have been filled and nobody will miss their closed doors.

If you've ever read what I wrote you know that I'm not a fan of rules when it comes to art. But I don't' chose to try and burn down the temple to change the dogma. So with that written I tell you that I'll gladly support anyone else who does compete. And I whole heatedly support the extremely hard working board members and volunteers of the ODCCA. So much to the fact that I am donating one of my decoys from my family collection to the Saturday night auction with 100% of the proceeds going to the club. This is a drake canvasback that I term a concept bird. It's a hollowed Maine white cedar and painted in oils and is the only decoy to date that I've ever carved the eyes for. So it's kind of unique.

There are discussions about the Westlake show taking place on a bunch of different web pages right now. It looks like this is going to be a banner year!

Come join the party!!!!
 
Last edited:
Great post John. I too am amazed at all of the immature bashing going on.

As I stated earlier, my Wife and I will be there most of Saturday and Sunday. I would really like to meet a lot of you guys, unfortunately I won't be able to make it to the get-together Saturday evening. My cousin lives up that way. We have a whole bunch of Irish in us, and she throws a massive St. Patty's day bash on that same evening. I would pay dearly if I weren't to attend the family thing.

I will stop by here and there during the weekend and share a few syllables as usual. Maybe a few other guys will too.

Looking forward to it all!

Jon
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top