July 2019 meeting pics - Part 1

Our July meeting was held at the Kitsilano branch of the Vancouver Public Library on Thursday July 18th. Sixteen VPC members were in attendance (including one new member--Dion) as well as two guests--Forbes Benning from the London (Ontario) Pen Club, and Jacqueline from Montecristo magazine. Many thanks to all who attended, from near & far! :)

(L-R) Jerred, Ricardo, Mary Anne, Tim, Jenny, Mindy, Dion, Stuart, Ben, Maja, Jacqueline and René (photo courtesy of Forbes) (~click on photos to enlarge~)

I snapped some photos during the meeting of writing instruments related to our meeting theme-- "ASTRONOMICAL!" (large fountain pens & any type of pens relating to space/astronomy)---as well as our members' Newest Acquistions (always our secondary theme)...

(Above) Mary Anne's lovely new Esterbrook 'Estie' fountain pen in the "Blueberry" pattern. This is a recent model produced by the modern Esterbrook pen company

(Above) Newcomer Dion brought some classic modern fountain pens to the meeting, including this black Pilot 'Vanishing Point' (middle pen) and black Platinum 'Century' 3776. The bright orange fountain pen is a Caran d'Ache 849---a recent acquisition

(Above) Stuart's Speedball' fountain pen---very large vintage fountain pen with a very unusual nib

(Above) Ricardo's gorgeous new 'Momento Zero' fountain pen in the "Hawaii" pattern and another recent acquisition-- his bright yellow Pelikan M205 'DUO' (which can be filled with highlighter ink or fountain pen ink!)

(Above) René's mix of Newest Acquisitions and writing instruments related to our meeting theme of pens related to space/astronomy---(L-R) a DaniTrio 'Cum Laude' (large pen brought in for our topic), a Sailor 'ProGear Slim' in the "Purple Cosmos" colour, a Platinum 'Procyon' (Procyon being the brightest object in the constellation of Canis Minor, and usually the eighth-brightest star in the night sky), a Swan 142 (or 52 ??) vintage fountain pen recently acquired in Portland at the Northwest Pen Round-Up! and a vintage Sheaffer in black chased hard rubber (recently acquired at the Portland event, as well)

(Above) One of Tim's favourite writers---a vintage Waterman '94' (top pen) and two vintage Esterbrooks acquired by René at the Round-Up! in Portland in July (a red Esterbrook 'Dollar Pen' and a green icicle 'LJ' model)

Two more of Mary Anne's recent acquisitions---a gorgeous modern Waterman 'Carene' fountain pen in "Marine Amber" and a vintage Conklin 'Crescent-filler' in black

Ben's cool Namisu 'Nexus Minimalist' fountain pen made of titanium, which was part of a Kickstarter campaign...

(Above) Visconti size comparison! (L-R) Maja's Visconti 'Divina' in the "Desert Springs" Special Edition, Bruce's Visconti 'Opera Master' in the "Guilloche" pattern, and Jenny's Visconti 'Homo Sapiens' "London Fog" Limited Edition

(Photo above) I realized I (Maja) hadn't snapped any photos of the pens I brought to the July meeting, so I took a quick shot of them at home. (L-R) My largest fountain pens--vintage flattops by Swan and the National Pen Company, Laban 'Mento', Jinhao '159', Wality '71JT', Stipula Etruria and a Namixin dragon pen. Pens related to space/astronomy--Aurora 'Optima', Platinum 'Procyon', Fisher 'Space Pen' ballpoint, Retro 51 'Apollo 11' capless rollerball & Lanbitou 'Pocket Rocket' fountain pen. The two pens at the very top were part of Sheaffer's "Star Wars" 'Pop' writing instruments theme ("Snoopy" pen wrap courtesy of my wonderful mother-in-law :)

Thanks to everyone who attended this fun meeting! Part 2 of the July meeting photos posted here!