IMCA Insights – February 2012
Sixth Annual IMCA Dinner In Tucson
by Maria Haas

This year's sixth annual IMCA dinner was held at el Charro Mexican Restaurant in downtown Tucson. We reserved the restaurant's entire patio and although it was a little chilly, it was a good fit for us. Well, kind of. The dinner has become so popular that the number of guests outgrew the seating capacity of the patio before we even sat down! No worries though. We squeezed a few more tables onto the patio and reserved two small adjacent rooms.

Look at the crowd!
(Photo by Gary Fujihara)

Jana Becker, Johnny Humphries, Jack Schrader, Robert Ward,
Richard Kowalski, Larry Lebofsky, Carol Kochert, Dolores Hill,
Rik Hill, Fern Goudreault, Bea Goudreault, Don Skidmore and
standing to the left rear, Bob Falls and Dave Gheesling
(Photo by Keith Vasquez)

A better view of the right side of that table
Cathy Kochert, Twink Monrad, Dolores Hill, Rik Hill, Jim Shorten,
Fern Goudreault, Bea Goudreault, Don Skidmore
(Photo by Jim Shorten)

Don Hurkot, Linda Hurkot, Keith Jenkerson, Dana Jenkerson,
Ralph Balkcom, Fred Olson, Carol Falls, Twink Monrad (speaking to
Carol), Bill Jensen, Mike Jensen and standing up, Bob Falls
(Photo by Gary Fujihara*)

Thos Lesser, Marilyn Lesser, Dave Gheesling, Russ Finney, Ryan Dillon,
Willie Boedecker, Robert Boedecker, Qynn Arnold, Carol Ehlmann,
Darryl Pitt, Denise Stone, Dr. Art Ehlmann, Steve Arnold,
Fredrick Stephan, Sean Murray, Karen Rohr, Linton Rohr
(Photo by Gary Fujihara)

Carol Ehlmann, Darryl Pitt, Denise Stone, Dr. Art Ehlmann
(Photo by Keith Vasquez)

Karen Bowling, Mark Bowling, Ken Domanik, Anne Black, Maria Haas,
Paul Kurimski, Lai Kurimski, Paul Swartz, Wendy Swartz, Sam Kumar
(Photo by Gary Fujihara)

A picture of Fred Olsen and his life-long good friend, Ralph Balkcom
(Photo by Keith Vasquez)

Nice group shot!
(Photo by Richard Kowalski*)

Keith Vasquez checks out the door prizes
(Photo by Gary Fujihara)

We had quite a few door prizes donated to the event by members. A big thanks to the following for their generosity:

- Mike Reynolds - Falling Stars, A Guide to Meteors & Meteorites by Mike D. Reynolds, Ph.D.
- Dorothy Norton – Field Guide to Meteors and Meteorites by O. Richard Norton and Lawrence A. Chitwood
- Sambath Kumar – A nice Sikhote Alin shrapnel (Sorry, could not weigh it at the dinner)
- Arlene Schlazer – 12” x 14” Metal Print using shock pattern from a Canyon Diablo Graphite Nodule and four matching placemats
- Johnny Humphries – Meteor Crater/Canyon Diablo collector's kit
- Twink Monrad – Space pattern fabric hand-sewn (by Twink) drawstring bag, NWA 869 slice pendant, Gold Basin fragment with a polished edge, Gold Basin slice, Gold Basin whole stone with Dolores Hill U of A label. Funny story about that label: Dolores Hill told me that if she had known those labels would be so important to us she would have written more legibly.
- Dana Jenkerson – KD Meteorites hat and KD Meteorites t-shirt
- Anne Black – Meteorites by Alain Carion
- Anonymous – Arizona Highways, May 1948, Featuring a profile and interview with Harvey Nininger, and Life Magazine, Sept. 6, 1937, featuring a profile and interview with Harvey Nininger.

The door prize table
(Photo by Keith Vasquez)

Gary Fujihara chose the Life Magazine as his door prize
(Photo by Keith Vasquez)

Qynn Arnold, Sam Kumar, and Dolores Hill choose their door prizes
(Photo by Keith Vasquez)

Rik Hill and Cathy Kochert choose their door prizes
(Photo by Keith Vasquez)

Robert Ward and Rik Hill chatting at the door prize table
(Photo by Keith Vasquez)

Great picture of Paul and Wendy Swartz with Arlene's metal print
(Photo by Gary Fujihara)

Nice picture of Gary Fujihara and Anne Black
(Photo by Gary Fujihara)

Bob Falls, Paul Swartz, Jack Schrader, I do not recognize those
two ladies, Jim Shorten, Steve Arnold
(Photo by Keith Vasquez)

Big smiles from Anne Black, Sara Kowalski, and Richard Kowalski
(Photo by Jim Shorten)

More smiles from Ryan Dillon and Steve Arnold (background)
Jack Schrader, Robert Ward and Sara Kowalski (foreground)
(Photo by Jim Shorten)

Two more smiling faces by Cathy Kochert and Twink Monrad
(Photo by Jim Shorten)

Outside the restaurant with Bea Goudreault and Dolores Hill
(Photo by Gary Fujihara)

We’re all hamming it up for the camera!
Maria Haas, Anne Black, Bob Falls, Gary Fujihara,
Ryan Dillon, Jim Shorten, Russ Finney
(Photo by Jim Shorten)

Anyone know this character?
(Photo by Gary Fujihara)

Thank you so much to Larry Lebofsky, Dolores Hill, and Rik Hill for help setting up and to our photographers, who did another great job this year. Most of all, thank you to the members who took time out of their busy Tucson schedule to attend the dinner.

Hoping to see even more of you next year,

Maria Haas
Treasurer To The Stars

*All photos taken by Gary Fujihara and Richard Kowalski were acquired from their respective public Facebook pages.

Any errors and/or omissions are the responsibility of the author and are unintentional.

This article has been edited by Norbert Classen

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