River City Collector’s Club’s In-Store Artist Signing Event
Event Date: Saturday, August 9, 2014
Location & Contact Information:
Amit’s Hallmark
670 Germantown Pkwy., Ste. 24
Cordova, TN 38018
(901) 756-5177
Attending Artists
Tracy Larsen
Hotel Accommodations
A limited number of rooms are available at a discounted rate ($99.00 USD/Night) at the Courtyard by Marriot. Individuals are encouraged to reserve their room early (deadline for reservations is July 21st). Mention Hallmark Ornament Collectors to get the discounted rate.
Courtyard by Marriot (Memphis Germantown)
7750 Wolf River Blvd
Germantown, TN 38138
(800) 644-3920
Friday Night Dinner “With the Artists”
Open to the general public.
Date: Friday, August 8, 2014
Time:
- Dinner: 6:30 PM – 8:30 PM (possibly 9:00 PM).
Location:
The Great Hall and Conference Center
1900 South German Rd.
Germantown, TN 38138
(approx. 6 miles south of Amit’s Hallmark)
Event Fee: $37.00 USD/person
Registration: Registration is limited and is on a first come, first served bases.
- Click here to make your dinner reservation.
- Multiple registrations under the same name are NOT allowed (must be one individual in attendance for each paid registration). Each person MUST create a separate account for themselves. In case a person does NOT have an email address and you are registering for them, please go ahead and add the registration to your cart 1 more time but adding their Information under shipping address during checkout.
Festivities Include:
- Dinner:
- BBQ pulled pork shoulder
- BBQ pulled chicken
- Italian spaghetti
- BBQ beans
- Cole slaw
- Twice baked potato salad
- Buns
- Peach cobbler
- Sweet tea, unsweetened tea or water
- A short Q & A session with Tracy
- Live Auction:
- Item No. 1 – Leg Lamp & 2014 The Legendary Leg Lamp ornament – includes a life sized leg lamp and a standard production Hallmark Keepsake Ornament SOLD FOR $250
- Item No. 2 – Leg Lamp & 2014 The Legendary Leg Lamp ornament – includes a life sized leg lamp and a standard production Hallmark Keepsake Ornament SOLD FOR $190
- Item No. 3 – Leg Lamp & 2014 The Legendary Leg Lamp ornament – includes a life sized leg lamp and a standard production Hallmark Keepsake Ornament SOLD FOR $200
Those individuals who attend the dinner will be given:
- A product purchase voucher (to present to Amit’s Hallmark on Saturday, August 9th), which will guarantee the ability to purchase the event exclusive ornament.
- A signing time ticket. You will receive a link to request desired signing time block after your registration.
Secondary Market Show
A secondary market is also planned for anyone interested in selling before or after the dinner. The cost to rent a table is $10.00 per table which must be paid in advance. Secondary market dealers may begin setting up no earlier than 3:00 PM on Friday, August 8th. The secondary market will open for business at 4:00 PM. Dealers must be out of the building by 11:00 PM.
Saturday Signing
- Artist will be available for signing from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
- There is a limit of one ornament per person. If any of the ornaments are left at the end of the Saturday signing event, they will be made available for general sale.
Event Recap
Prior to the dinner (4:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.) tables were set up for a secondary market show.
The dinner started at 6:30 p.m. There were approx. 200 individuals in attendance.
Tracy held a brief Q&A. Although no photos were shown, he talked about his 2014 Keepsake ornaments and provided a few insights into several of the pieces he is working on for 2015.
During the session he spoke about the second in the “Tree Trimmers” series. In addition to saying the piece was designed with Elvis in mind, he said he was excited to have it selected to appear on the cover of the Dream Book. He went on to say this was only the second time* in his 28-year career as a Keepsake Artist that one of his pieces has appeared on the cover, the first being in 1997 (the year his work debuted) when his Mickey & Co. inspired “New Pair of Skates” (QXD4032) shared the cover with “Steeling a Kiss” (QX6555) By Sue Tague and “Rocking Horse” (QXM4303), 10th and final in the series by Linda Sickman.
Tracy also spoke about “Snow Fun Ferris Wheel”, his venture into the the world of magic, light and movement. An interesting piece of trivia he shared was, although Ferris wheels usually rotate clockwise, this one rotates counter clockwise.
Another interesting piece of trivia Tracy shared was that although he submitted the concept for “Hark! Music Fills the Air!,” (QXI2563)-this years PEANUTS® Gang chorale ornament-in 2008, the year after “Ringing in Christmas” (QXI4309) was released, it wasn’t until this year that the design was realized.
Tracy revealed that the Santa sculptures created by three Keepsake Artists during a wood carving workshop, and then auctioned off as part of last year’s “Hangin’ With Your Buddies!” event, would be re-imagined as ornaments and offered for sale at next year’s event.
As for future projects, Tracy said he is working on: a new elf series, a follow up piece to this years “Surfin’ Safari Santa” which will be based on another Beach Boys song (Please see sneak peek below) and a big piece that features Santa in flight. This large scale piece is expected to be on par with Ken Crow’s annual masterpieces. Tracy also said he is currently collaborating with two other studio artists on a Frosty Friends tabletop piece.
As a side note Tracy mentioned that the coffee grinder he created for Mrs. Claus’ Kitchen Sink, this year’s In-Store signing event piece, was accidentally placed on the wrong spot. As a result of being placed too close to the front of the shelf, the grinder’s handle sticks out making it prone to breakage. As such, he cautions people to be careful when handling this piece.
*Note: “100 Years of Helping You Say It All” (QXG3403) a piece Tracy created in collaboration with Don Palmiter also appeared on the cover of the 2010 Keepsake Ornament Club edition Dream Book.
At the conclusion of the dinner the Rock City Collector’s Club conducted a Live Auction. Thanks to the generosity of some of the attendees the Live Auction raised $640 for Children’s Advocacy.
Immediately following the Live Auction door prizes were awarded through a raffle. Amongst the items being offered were the coveted 1st, 2nd & 3rd spots in the waiting line for Saturday’s In-Store Artist signing event.
Saturday the lines ran very smooth. The club members kept everyone supplied with water. The store owners had several specials. Tracy signed a little extra at lunch time to get thru the 11:30 line and stayed a little after 3PM to finish the line. All in all everything went well.
Attendees at the Cordova, TN In-Store Artist Signing event were delighted to find a display featuring Tracy’s current designs along with a Sneak Peek poster highlighting one of his 2015 Keepsake Ornament designs.
Little Saint Nick
Press the button to hear music from
“Little Saint Nick” by The Beach Boys.
By Tracy Larsen.
Event Product
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