While there was no formal "Orchid Dinner" this year in Tucson - the accommodating and generous Dave Arens (tool maker, jeweler and jack of all trades) organized a smaller group of folks at the TGIFridays!
Dave proved that there truly is nothing that he is not capable of doing - he can now add Party Planner to his list - he wore the Host Hat well!!!!
Despite the fact that there were three other "dinners" going on that same night...there was a respectable crowd of 50-75 guests!
Among the notables in the room Charles Lewton Brain was sharing a table with Loren Damewood - talk about artistic energy! Loren kept the onlookers entertained with his knots! It was especially nice to see Merle White and Helen Driggs (my favorite writer) of Jewelry Artist Magazine in attendance.
If you didn't get a chance to see the ring that Charles had on take a minute to check out his webpage below - this new caged rocks series is fun!
Brad & Debbie Simon were there briefly - they had a second dinner appointment that night also.
I shared a table with Dave Arens and a rotating list of dinner guests - the first round was Sam Patania (isn't he the nicest guy?) who was also heading to Cindy Edelstein's JRB dinner - then we welcomed local MetalSmith and Instructor Mark Ramsour (what a hoot - this guy is fun!)- no sooner had he stood to leave when in came Maureen Brusa Zappellini (kept saying she wasn't going to go to the show - she LIVES in Tucson!) Maureen is a talented artist and I am really enjoyed getting the opportunity to meet her - no sooner had Maureen and I started talking when in walked Holly Gage and her husband - they were busy being guests instead of vendors this year.
So as you can see I was so busy with my rotating table guests - I didn't get a minute to mingle! Maybe Dave will post a list of the attendees!
A Web Rundown of the Talent around my table:
Dave Arens - Koil Kuttergemstonesetc@gainbroadband.comCharles Lewton-Brainhttp://www.brainpress.com/http://www.metalartsguild.ca/profile/CharlesLewtonBrainLoren Damewoodhttp://www.golden-knots.com/Sam Pataniahttp://bahti.com/http://silverhuntress.com/Merle White & Helen Driggshttp://www.jewelryartistmagazine.com/Brad & Debbie Simonhttp://benchtelevision.com/http://internet4jewelers.com/Maureen Brusa Zappellinihttp://cosmosmoon.etsy.com/http://mbzap.etsy.com/Mark RamsourOORT Cloud - Jewelry & Metal Objects
Holly Gagehttp://www.hollygage.com/For those of you that attended that I missed - PLEASE feel free to add your info to the comments - I would love to know who else was there!
What is Orchid? I like to describe it as the only place where you can talk to thousands of jewelers, lapdarists, gemologists, artists, inventors, refiners, retailers, designers, photographers and miners from around the world - and not feel so intimidated that you can't ask a question!
From the Ganoksin site: Orchid is both a reservoir of content and network of active relationships for the benefit of the gem and jewelry industries. Through Orchid, participants may resolve their questions about virtually any subject relevant to the broad spectrum of involvement surrounding the gem and jewelry industries
http://www.ganoksin.com/orchid/orchid.htm
A big thanks go out the our wonderful host Dave Arens for setting everything up ahead of time and keeping the action rolling all night, what a charmer! 
...and he brought in one of his Hydraulic Jewelry Presses for show & tell!
Cheap Thrills in the Tool Shop -- Lewton-Brain
