ACTIVITY DETAILS

There were many activities throughout the event that kept you busy and made your experiences memorable. Here are brief descriptions of some before and during the event activities to get the maximum experience. One fact that you need to remember is that you will go home with lots of goodies!
 

OPTIONAL OUTINGS

We had two outings available for our attendees and guests on Thursday, April 4, 2013. One was a daytime tour and the second was at dinner time. The cost of your Optional Outing included a special color version of the squirrel with peach pendant. Each outing pendant had its own unique coloring.

• GONE WITH THE WIND TOUR

  Enjoy the Gone With The Wind Tour to Jonesboro, Georgia, where Margaret Mitchell depicted Tara as a Southern plantation outside Atlanta in her story of the War Between the States. Our tour includes: Coach transportation from the hotel to Jonesboro Tour of Road to Tara Museum Guided tour including plantation and Confederate Cemetery Visit Stately Oaks Plantation Lunch at Golden Corral includes buffet, drink, tax, and tip in a private dining room Peaches, a gray squirrel with peach pendant, valued at $25.

  The cost for this tour was $60 per person. The bus coach left the hotel at 9:15 AM and returned at 4:00 PM.
   

• GRAND TASTE OF THE SOUTH TOUR

  In the evening we enjoyed a true Southern-style buffet at the Grand Taste of the South Tour when we traveled into Atlanta for a scrumptious offering of Southern delights. Our tour included:

  • Coach transportation from the hotel to Mary Mac's Tea Room in Atlanta
  • Unlimited buffet featuring 4 entrées, 6 side dishes, 2 desserts, breads, and sweet tea
  • Cobbles, a brown squirrel with peach pendant, valued at $25.

  The cost for this tour was $50 per person. The bus coach left the hotel at 6:15 p.m. and returned at 9:30 p.m.
   

LOCAL CLUBS' RECEPTION

After registration we went back in time as a number of the local club members greeted you in costume. We kicked the weekend off at the Southern Harmony Collector's Club afternoon of fun. We joined the club members for a light lunch, games, and raffles. We took the opportunity to spend time reuniting with friends and meeting new ones. In addition HOP had the first Blue Light Special Charity Raffle and the first Door Prize drawing.

There was no charge to attend, but the club sold Shelly, a special black color of the squirrel with the peanut, for $25 each, to cover the cost of the event.
 

DRESS CODE - COSTUME CONTEST

All events were casual dress. However, could we really be in the heart of the South and not honor the Antebellum period? Friday was deemed "Southern Traditions" Day and we invited you to dress in costume during the day and/or evening. The official Costume Contest was Friday evening. Peter and Andrea, along with Sam and Millie lead the parade in true Southern style.

The Costume Contest had three categories: Belles, Gents and Soldiers, and Other. The last category was left to your imagination. The prizes awarded the winners were event prototype figurines! Judging was based on style AND presentation where the best costumes were selected.
 

WELL WISHERS AND SPONSORS

Attendees' registration fees don't cover all the costs of the event. To do a small part in making it a success, you could have offered your best wishes with your own personal ad space – for only $10. This ad was 1 1/2" by 2 1/4" and you could get multiples, if you wanted more room. You had an opportunity to combine your ad with family or friends to have fun! For your Well Wisher Ad, you could say hello; or make a wish; or thank someone(s). Your Well Wisher Ad also qualified you for the right-to-buy Skippy, a special brown color version of the squirrel with peanut pendant. Additionally one event prototype was given to one Well Wisher in a random drawing. You had one chance in the drawing and one right-to buy for each $10 donation. Well Wisher Ad ordering deadline was January 31, 2013, ad copy was required by February 10, 2013.

If you were a Sponsor, you also had the right-to-buy Skippy. Visit our SPONSORSHIP page for details.
 

ARTIST SIGNINGS

This was a great opportunity to have Peter sign some of your personal pieces! He asked for quality time with collectors to talk about what 'you' like, what you want, or any other subject you'd like to discuss. In order to accommodate everyone, each Collector had only one 4–minute personal signing time with Peter Calvesbert where you could have up to eight (8) pieces signed. All event pieces were pre-signed before the event, so pieces were brought from home. You selected your signing time during the registration. There was only one time slot per Collector; they were NOT interchangeable or transferable.

During the Raffle of a Lifetime drawings on Sunday morning, additional pieces could be signed for a charity donation. The cost was $2 per signature or 3 for $5. All money went to Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary.

PAINT-YOUR-OWN

Every collector has a bit of artist in themselves. So we provided Collectors with an unpainted version of Eyes on the Prize. During the Welland inauguration event of Harmony Kingdom UK, some lucky people were able to use the ACTUAL stains used at the factory on pieces. They could not stop raving over the great difference they make. This year, we had those actual stains used at the factory! You had all day Saturday, and the paints waiting, to see how well you could create your own masterpiece. Two lucky painters won an event prototype for the "best" – one selected by Peter Calvesbert; and the other selected by the attendees' votes on Saturday evening.
 

CARVE-YOUR-OWN

Carving kits were available for only $5 each. The kits included a base to work on, carving medium and tools with which to create your masterpiece. You could have entered your creations in the Carve-Your-Own Contest on Saturday afternoon. Peter judged the entries and the winner was announced on Sunday. The winning sculpture will be made into a marble resin figurine and sent to the winner. Just think! The winner can show their family and friends that they too are a true artist!
 

SWAP 'N SELL

Did you have a handmade craft that you wanted to sell? Did you have any extra pieces you didn't need? A major activity on Saturday was the Swap 'n Sell. This was a great opportunity for collectors, retailers, secondary market dealers, and clubs to buy and sell handicrafts and HK collectibles. The cost was $20 for a 6–foot long, skirted, and draped table with two chairs. Tables were open all day or just for the morning.
 

LUCKY DIP

One of the all-time favorite fundraising activities was the Lucky Dip. This helps to offset the costs of the event and helps keep your registration fees lower. This highly popular game was introduced to our collectors at Clair de Lune 2000, back in 2000. Hundreds of prizes were available to win with the draw of a ticket. This year every ticket was a winner! Yes, that's what we said... every ticket! There were no "losing" tickets! So you had a 100% chance of winning... now that was a guarantee!

What is Lucky Dip you ask? This year "it's a sure thing" as well. Here's how it worked. We had hundreds of prizes set on tables with winning ticket numbers on them. A bucket has the matching tickets. You buy the right-to-draw-a-ticket for $3 (or 4 draws for $10) and then pull out a ticket from the bucket. The prize it matches is yours.

In order to assist us in obtaining the number of prizes, we had donations from our attendees as well as our sponsors. While we had the support of Harmony Ball Company and Harmony Kingdom UK, your help was also needed. All donors were recognized in the Event Program.
 

Previous attendees know that they can get MANY prizes throughout the weekend. Some of them may be duplicates or items that are not what you like. We added an hour on Saturday afternoon you brought items that you wanted to exchange. There were spaces set up and volunteers to helped you make these exchanges. This was limited to swaps only. No dollars were exchanged.
 

CHARITY ACTIVITIES

Many activities were planned throughout the weekend focusing on giving back! We had games, raffles, and auctions to support three charities: NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) [www.nami.org] who receives the Live Auction proceeds; and the local charities: Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary [www.noahs-ark.org] and Rainbow Children's Home [rainbowchildrenshome.org] who will receive all other proceeds. Cash, checks, and credit cards were used for raffles and the auction. Checks were made payable directly to the charity.
 

BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL CHARITY RAFFLES

The Blue Light Special Charity Raffles occurred four times during the weekend. Each raffle was a special version of an event prototype – and each one was a different color! Tickets were $1 each, and were good only for one raffle – non-winning tickets were destroyed after each drawing. These raffles benefit Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary and Rainbow Children's Home. Winners did not need to be present at the raffle drawing.
 

LIVE CHARITY AUCTION & RAFFLE OF A LIFETIME

In addition to just having fun, HOP had two major objectives for our convention: provide opportunities for collectors to obtain rare pieces; and to give back to the communities through charitable fundraising. At the same time, we strive to provide these opportunities to one and all, regardless of the depth of your pockets. So we had multiple opportunities to obtain rare pieces. Two of these were the Live Charity Auction and the Raffle of a Lifetime.
 

• LIVE CHARITY AUCTION

As an attendee of the convention, you had an opportunity to participate in the Live Charity Auction on Saturday evening, benefiting NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). We usually have 25 to 30 special items for the Live Auction. Checks (payable to NAMI), cash, and Visa^®/MasterCard^®/American Express^®/Discover^® were accepted. Here is a small sample of what was auctioned:

• A Cake Topper, never produced, with Peter as a monkey and Andrea a cow
• Full Bronze set of the Welland UK event figurines, exclusive to attendees only: (Unholy Water, Welland Frog, The Drinker pendant, Calvesbert Menagerie and Layed Back)
• Three Cat themed Picturesque 6x6 Tiles – never produced
• Alice and Friends rare Disney master mold
• A never produced Frog Music Box with Menage A Trois on top which plays "Take Me Out To the Fair"
• STRiDA folding bike from Areaware
• Solid prototype of Tugaloo Hullabaloo
• Unreleased Lion solid prototype with "Lions and Tigers and Bears” by Monique Baldwin
• A number of solid prototypes of HK box figurines
   
  

• RAFFLE OF A LIFETIME

The Raffle of a Lifetime this year had an astounding collection of prototype and higher valued items, available in the Raffle. Every ticket was guaranteed to be a winner! And when you did win, you got to pick the prize you wanted from the remaining prizes! It couldn't get much better!

Each attendee was limited to only one ticket at a cost of $30. The tickets, available to attendees, had a deadline of February 25, 2013. Tickets were not available after that date. The number of prizes available for the raffle exceeded 70 prototypes, samples, unreleased items, and high cost collectible figurines. We had a number of HK solid prototypes among the choices. Here is a small sample of what was offered:

• Shaggy Dog – One of the Elusive Few
• Magi Fest mold variation with lid on MYRRH, Santa hat, NY ball cap
• Ram – One of the Elusive Few
• Scooch Pooch V1 Solid Prototype with "Prototype 2" on the bottom
• Pooh and Friends Caroling vibrant color sample with "DA Pooh Christmas #001 China" on base
• Nutsy – brown squirrel with pecan used for Door Prizes only
• Bronze version of Private Pete
   
  

We were selecting over 80 different prizes for the Dollar Raffle with HALF being prototypes or rare and hard-to-find pieces. Each prize had its own box for tickets, so you'll know you only win something you wanted.

Each ticket costs $1. Tickets could be purchased online in advance or anytime Friday or Saturday, at HOP Central. Starting Friday evening the prizes were on display along with the ticket boxes, so you were able to put your tickets in the boxes you desired. You could have purchased your tickets with checks (payable to Noah’s Ark Animal Sanctuary or Rainbow Children's Home) or with cash or credit card. All proceeds from the Dollar Raffle go to Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary and Rainbow Children's Home.

Winners of the Dollar Raffle were drawn on Saturday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. Here are some prize samples:

• A full painted set of the Welland UK event figurines exclusive to attendees only (Unholy Water, Welland Frog, Calvesbert Menagerie, and Layed Back)
• Prohibition Pete Bronze – One of three bronze pieces made for HOP at the Fire & ICE Event
• Wimberley Tales Tile Set & Frame – Premier Edition Retired 2003
• Shark – One of the Elusive Few that retired in 1995
• Pig with Cupcake Covet – Never produced with "Pig Covet #001" on the bottom
• Eyes on the Prize – Solid prototype with "Prototype 1" on the bottom
• Chalford Village – Wimberley Mills Factory Tour Exclusive
• Full set – 1999 HOL Tour Box & Lid – All seven Picturesque boxes and lids from California, Chicago, Florida, Maryland, New York, Oregon, and U.K.
• Longaberger: Geranium Basket – Unpainted with no base markings
• Squirrel on bush & birds v Never produced prototype, solid vivid color with "DL Squirrels Prototype" on the bottom
• Who'd A Thought – Retired in 1995 with no base markings
• Original watercolor painted by Robert Morin
• Golden Castle Disney color sample with "WDWDL50 Gold Coloration #001" on bottom

Twenty of the Dollar Raffle items were available for people not attending to buy tickets. Visit the CHARITY PUBLIC DOLLAR RAFFLE page to see the items that were available. Payment for these "public" tickets must have been received by March 25, 2013. Keep in mind, three-quarters of the prizes were exclusive to attendees at the event.

Wimberley Tales Tile Set

Unholy Water

Chalford Village

CHARITY SIGNING - SUNDAY

The Charity Signing on Sunday morning also benefited the Noah's Ark Animal Sanctuary and Rainbow Children's Home. If you didn't get everything signed during your regular signing time, here was your chance. Peter signed one piece for $2, or three for $5 – and there was no limit to the number of pieces that could be signed. You will not be able to talk to the artist during this time.
 

HOW TO ORDER

The Options Ordering has ended.
 

We wanted to go out with a bang, so you found a number of surprises as the weekend went by. We know you had fun!

SOUTHERN COMFORTS

CHARITIES

ACTIVITY DETAILS

CHARITY PUBLIC DOLLAR RAFFLE

EVENT MERCHANDISE

EVENT PIECES

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

SPONSORSHIP

PHOTO ALBUMS

EMBASSY SUITES ATLANTA - AIRPORT