Button collectors, crafters, quilters, and sewing enthusiasts from New York State, Pennslyvania, Florida, and Canada arrived at the DoubleTree Inn in Binghamton, on April 26th through the 28th for the annual New York State Button Show and Awards.
The show’s theme this year was “Ease on Down the Button Road”. It was a fun and educational event and an opportunity to see old friends and meet new ones.
This year we had button dealers selling buttons from the 17th century through the modern day, and one set of dealers teamed up to sell button-related framed art, jewelry, and hand-made Dorset buttons.
On Friday night we had our annual auction with a wonderful selection of items to bid on including 4 studio buttons painted by our own Jennifer Chehnovich from the Finger Lakes Button Club. The auctioneering and bidding were especially entertaining due to the antics of our auctioneers Donna Ladoux and Art Baur coupled with some very competitive (and in good fun) bidding amongst family members.
On Saturday, we held off opening the showroom until 11:00 AM so members could focus on helping in the judging room. This strategy worked well. Judging was complete and trays were hung in the showroom by 1:30 PM. This allowed ample time for people to peruse the various trays and see the talent in understanding the blue book and the stunning selection of buttons chosen for each tray.
Saturday evening, guest speaker Richard Price, a collector of military buttons gave an in-depth talk about how he created a system to better describe and differentiate the many face die variations of the General Staff Button. He did this by adding the button manufacturer and using a consistent system to describe and quantify the attributes that characterize different button types. The crowd was impressed with Richard’s level of detail and his passion for the topic. We capped off the evening with some cake and coffee.
Sunday morning was the member’s breakfast buffet and general meeting. Linda Hickey provided information about the button commemorating the theme. Beverly Hesse asked for nominations from the floor. Bob Elliott was nominated for 2nd VP, which he accepted. Linda Hickey announced the winners of the competitive trays and handed out the awards. Following breakfast, the showroom re-opened for a final time, and we held the raffle.
Thanks to everyone who attended this fun show. Especially thanks to our dealers and our members who helped make the show a success.
Below are photos from the showroom floor and the auction on Friday Night.
Also see Photos from Saturday, Photos from Sunday, and the List of Award Winners and Photos of the winning trays.
